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THE  LIBRARY 

OF 

THE  UNIVERSITY 

OF  CALIFORNIA 

LOS  ANGELES 


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i 


THE 


LIFE 


OF 


REGINALD    HEBER,    D.D. 


LORD  BISHOP  OF  CALCUTTA. 


BY    HIS    WIDOW. 


WITlf 

SELECTIONS 

FROM   HIS 

CORRESPONDENCE,  UNPUBLISHED  POEMS,  AND  PRIVATE   PAPERS; 

TOGETHER    WITH 

A  JOURNAL  OF  HIS  TOUR 

IK 

NORWAY,    SWEDEN,  RUSSIA,  HUNGARY  AND   (JER.MANY, 

Axn 

A  HISTORY  OF  THE  COSSAKS. 


IN    TWO    A^OLUMES, 
VOL.    L 


LONDON: 
JOHN  MURRAY,  ALBEMARLE  STREET. 


WDCCCXXX. 


i 


( 


i 

1 


TO 


JOHN    THORNTON,    ESQ. 


My  Dear  Sir, 

I  cannot  gratify  my  own  feelings  more  than  by 
inscribing  the  following  pages  to  my  husband's  dearest  friend 
The  grave  has  had  no  power  to  interrupt  the  attachment  which 
bound  you  to  him  from  your  earliest  years;  and  the  memory 
of  his  gifted  mind  and  of  his  virtuous  heart  is  cherished  by  you 
whh  all  a  brother  s  affection.  You  will,  therefore,  feel  a  deep, 
though  melancholy  gratification,  at  receiving  this  attempt  made 
by  his  widow  to  exhibit  to  others  what  it  was  your  privilege 
to  know  and  appreciate.  You  need  no  assurance  of  the  un- 
changing regard  which,  in  the  full  maturity  of  his  character, 
he  continued  to  entertain  for  the  beloved  companion  of  his 
boyhood  and  of  his  youth. 


AMELIA  HEBER. 


11,  Clarence  Terrace,  London, 
May  \st,  1830. 


881375 


PREFACE. 


It  has  been  the  editor's  wish,  in  this  pubhcation,  to  portray  her  hus- 
band's character  from  the  dawn  to  the  close  of  his  hfe  ;  to  trace  its  gradual 
developement ;  to  folloAv  him  through  the  course  of  an  active,  though  pri- 
vate life ;  and,  finally,  to  represent  him  in  the  high  and  responsible  station 
to  which  he  was  called,  where  all  the  energies  of  his  powerful  mind,  and 
all  the  influence  which  his  talents  and  his  virtues  enabled  him  to  exercise 
over  his  fellow-creatures  were  employed  in  forwarding  the  great  object  for 
which  he  rejoiced  to  labour,  and  for  which  he  was  content  to  die. 

Without  the  help  of  the  kind  friends  who  have  allowed  her  to  select 
from  the  Bishop's  private  correspondence  such  letters  as  seemed  fitted  to 
promote  this  object,  the  editor  could  never  have  hoped  to  accomplish  it. 
If,  in  executing  her  task,  she  has  done  justice  to  the  virtues  of  him  whom 
they  loved,  and  for  whose  loss  they  still  mourn,  she  feels  that  they  will 
deem  themselves  more  amply  repaid  for  their  kindness,  than  by  the  most 
public  acknowledgement  of  her  thanks.  To  Sir  Robert  Harry  Inglis, 
however,  more  is  due.  On  one  important  point,  the  editor  has  considered 
herself  bound  to  act  in  opposition  to  his  advice.  She  has,  therefore,  an 
additional  reason  to  be  grateful  for  the  undiminished  activity  and  zeal  with 


viii  PREFACE. 

which  he  has  again  encouraged  and  assisted  her  in  the  publication  of  her 
husband's  works. 

There  is  one  point  on  which  the  editor  wishes  to  be  allowed  the 
expression  of  her  opinion.  Her  loss  invests  her  with  the  melancholy 
privilege  of  raising  her  feeble  voice  in  support  of  the  forcible  representa- 
tions made  in  the  memorials  to  Government,  which  are  included  in  the 
appendix  to  the  second  volume,  on  the  necessity  of  dividing  the  see  of 
Calcutta.  Few  can  better  estimate  the  weight  of  responsibility  which  this 
diocese  imposes  upon  an  individual ;  and  no  one  else  can  bear  such  witness 
to  the  mental  labour  and  anxiety  which  it  caused  to  her  husband.  He 
himself,  zealous  as  he  was  to  discharge  all  its  duties  to  the  utmost,  at  the 
expence  of  domestic  happiness,  of  health,  and  of  life  itself,  was  deeply 
convinced  of  the  necessity  of  such  a  division.  He  never  complained,  even 
to  his  wife,  of  liis  own  discomfort  or  fatigue ;  but  he  was  anxious  for  assist- 
ance, because  he  felt  that  no  one,  however  great  his  energy,  or  however 
entire  his  devotion  to  his  task,  can  do  all,  or  near  all,  that  ovight  to  be  done 
in  the  great  field  of  usefulness  presented  by  the  Indian  bishoprick ;  a  field 
Avhich,  to  the  glory  of  God,  is  enlarging  every  day.  That  such  an  impossi- 
biUty  is  not  merely  imaginary,  must  be  apparent  to  any  who  reflect  that, 
not  only  the  spiritual  interests  of  the  Indian  continent  and  of  Ceylon,  but 
those  of  New  South  Wales,  including  Van  Diemen's  Land  and  its  depen- 
dancies,  of  the  Mauritius,  of  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope,  and,  by  a  recent 
enactment,  even  of  Madeira,  are  committed  to  the  charge  of  the  Bishop  of 
Calcutta. 

It  has  been  urged  that  the  duties  of  the  Governor-General  far  out- 
weigh those  of  the  Bishop,  and  yet  have  never  been  thought  too  much  for 
a  single  individual.     But,  not  to  mention  the  subordinate  governors  of 


PREFACE.  ix 

Madras  and  Bombay,  who  relieve  the  Indian  viceroy  from  the  administra- 
tion of  so  large  a  portion  of  the  empire,  it  should  be  remembered  that  the 
"  Governor-General  in  CounciV  has,  as  the  expression  implies,  a  certain 
number  of  coadjutors  experienced  in  the  afflxirs  of  the  country,  and  that 
without  the  concurrence  of  a  majority  of  these,  no  measure  can  be  deter- 
mined uj)on  ;  so  that  a  ])ortion  of  the  responsibility  devolves  upon  them. 
He  has  also  public  and  private  secretaries  appointed  by  Government ;  bis 
sway  is  confined  to  India,  without  comprehending  Ceylon,  Australasia,  the 
Mauritius,  the  Cape,  or  Madeira  :  nor  has  the  argument  that  a  single  sove- 
reign is  sufficient  for  an  extensive  empire,  ever  been  held  sufficient  to  demon- 
strate that  a  single  bishop  must  be  so  likewise. 

Compared  with  the  Governor-General,  the  Bishop  of  Calcutta  has  many 
other  disadvantages  ;  he  has  not  only  to  act  entirely  on  his  own  respon- 
sibility ;  but  almost  every  official  docvnnent  connected  with  his  vast  diocese 
must  be  written  with  his  own  hand,  while  in  consequence  his  private  affiiirs 
are  either  neglected,  or  devolve  upon  some  person,  if  such  should  be  found, 
in  his  o\m  family.  A  public  secretary  and  a  chaplain,  it  is  true,  are  allowed 
him  by  Government ;  but  as  the  former  has  hitherto  been  engaged,  at  the 
same  time,  in  the  important  offices  of  registrar  to  the  archdeaconry  and 
proctor  to  the  supreme  court,  he  has  been  unable  to  affiDrd  more  than 
nominal  assistance.  Though  a  private  chaplain,  too,  might  relieve  him 
from  some  of  his  ordinary  ceremonial  duties,  yet,  not  to  speak  of  the  cir- 
cumstances which,  for  nearly  two  whole  years,  deprived  Bishop  Heber  of 
this  aid,  and  which  are  but  too  likely  to  recur,  there  are  so  few  clergymen 
in  India,  that  there  may  easily  be  a  call  for  the  chaplain's  services  at  a 
distant  station,  to  which,  accordingly,  the  Bishop  would  feel  himself  bound 
to  send  him,  however  great  the  personal  inconvenience  thus  incurred. 

Three  invaluable  hves  have  already  fallen  by  this  kind  of  voluntary 
VOL.  I.  a 


X  PREFACE. 

martyrdom.  Men,  ready  to  make  the  same  sacrifice,  will,  it  is  to  be  hoped, 
through  God's  blessing  on  His  Church,  always  be  found.  But  are  such 
the  lives  we  should  be  heedless  and  unscrupulous  about  throwing  away  ? 
Or  can  we  be  said  to  feel  a  due  regard  for  the  well-being  of  our  brethren 
in  India,  while  we  carry  our  economy  to  such  a  pitch,  that  we  will  not 
allow  any  one  to  undertake  the  care  of  their  spiritual  interests,  unless  he  is 
willing  to  engage  in  a  task  for  which  no  human  strength  can  be  equal,  and 
to  encounter  the  almost  inevitable  risk  of  sinking  under  the  burthen  in  the 
very  first  years  of  his  ministry  ? 


CONTENTS 


4 


TO 


VOLUME  I. 


CHAPTER  I. 

PAGE 

Family  of  Heber — Birtli  of  Reginald  Heber — Anecdotes — Early  education — School — "  Prophecy  of 
Ishmael"— Correspondence  at  Ncasdon — Letter  on  Church  stipends  and  government — Entrance 
at  College — "  Carmen  Saculare" — AH  Souls  mallard  feast — Correspondence  at  Oxford — Imita- 
tion of  a  poem  by  Robert  Duke  of  Normandy — Lines  on  Alchemy — Recitation  of  "  Palestine" — 
Anecdote — "  Honour  its  own  reward" — Death  of  Mr.  Heber — Election  to  All  Soul's  college — 
"  Sense  of  Honour" 1 


CHAPTER  H. 

TO  STRUND. 

Departure  from  England — Gottenburg — Swedish  soldiers — Mod*  of  travelling — Hede— Trollhatta — 
Falls  on  the  Gotha — Swedish  peasantry — Price  of  labour — Udevalla — Friderickshall — Mr.  An- 
ker— Wolf-hunting — Mr.  Rosencrantz — Cascade  on  the  Glomni — Population  of  Norway — Lake 
of  Dillingen — Noeck,  the  kelpie  of  Norway — Christiania — Mr.  Collet — Oesterval  peasants — 
Fort — Cathedral — Alum  works — Militia — Hedermarken — Lake  Mios — Storhammer — St.  Olave 
— Norwegian  superstitions— Men  of  Gulbransdal — Colonel  Sinclair — Dovre — Driostuen — Wolves 
— Lemings — Trondheim — Cathedral — Munkholm— Library— Rifle  corps  on  skates— Leer  Fos- 
sen — Rdraas  copper  mines — Finns — Productions  of  Norway ''^ 

a  2 


I 


3^ij  CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER  III. 

STRUND  TO  PETERSBURG. 

PAGE 

Upsala Dr.  Afzelius — Dannemora  mines — Stockholm — Charles  XII. — Gulf  of  Bothnia — Abo — Fin- 
nish peasantry Agriculture — Superstitions — Unpopularity  of  the  King  of  Sweden — Petersburg 

General  appearance  of  the  Russians — Character — Food — Manners — Houses — Winter  amuse- 
ments—Sledges and  carriages— Theatres— Greek  Clergy— The  Taurida— The  great  Palace— 
Popidarity  of  the  Emperor— His  character  and  appearance 80 

CHAPTER  IV. 

PETERSBURG  TO  MOSCOW. 

Captain  Davison's  farm— Entrance  into  Petersburg— Russian  weights  and  measures— Bridges— The 

Artelshiki Czarsko-Zelo — Winter-palace — Hermitage — Isaac's  palace — Senate — Iron  works — 

Police Washerwomen — Sledge-driving — Emperor's  return  to  Petersburg — Levy  for  tlie  army — 

Emperor's  court — Ramadan — Livonian  peasants — Palace  of  Peterhof — Oranienbaum — Cronstadt 
Novoo-orod — Valdai — Shoes  made  of  linden  bark — Abrock — Slaves — Tobolsk — Iver — Anec- 
dote— Russian's  treatment  of  his  horses 114 

CHAPTER  V. 

MOSCOW. 

Aspect  of  the  country — Russian  cottages — Entrance  into  Moscow — Society — Greek  funeral — History 
of  Moscow — Kitai-gorod — Kremlin — Antiquities — Churches — Palaces — Foundling  Hospital — 
Theatres — College  of  Foreign  Affairs — Prison — Inundation — Silk  manufactories — Beauty  of  the 
women — Journey  to  Kostroma — Palace  of  Count  Sheremetof — Manners  of  the  Russian  gentry — 
Convent  of  Bethany — Monks — Clergy — Visit  to  Archbishop  Plato — His  conversation  and  ap- 
pearance— Homilies — Rostof — Madame  Vassilchikof — Yaroslav — Manufactures — Greek  Ordi- 
nation Service — Wolf  hunt — Kostroma — Prison — Orphan-house — Tartar  families — Return  to 
Moscow 147 

CHAPTER  \  I. 

MOSCOW  TO  TAGANROG. 

Preparations  for  journey — Change  of  we.ither — Death  of  Mr.  Pitt — Count  Alexis  Orlof— Ornaments 
of  the  Russian  ladies — Armenian  merchants — Lazarof— Regret  at  leaving  Moscow — Retrospec- 
tion— Extortions  of  Post-masters — Snow-storm — Serpouchof— Peasants'  houses — Tula — Arsenal 
Manufactures — Orel — Koursk — Bielgorod — Charkof— Cossaks —  University  of  Charkof— Do- 

netz  ferry  —  Bakmuth  —  Steppes  —  Ivanovna  —  Suslik  —  Nogay  Tartars  — Taganrog Trade 

Fishery — History  of  Taganrog— Quarantine — Society— Madame  Cashparof— Scotch  missionaries 

— Eve  of  Palm  Sunday j  go 


CONTENTS.  xiii 

CHAPTER  VII. 
TAGANROG  TO  TCHERKASK. 

I'AQE 

Commodities  of  New  Russia — Climate — Cossaks — Lent — View  from  Okliasi — Donskoy  Cossaks — 
Rostof — Fishing  of  the  Don — Armenian  settlement  at  Nakitchivan — Colonel  Abraamof — Arme- 
nians— Axy — Calmuk  tents— Dance  of  the  ring — Tcherkask — Inundation — Cathedral — Bazar — 
Mahomedans — Platof  the  Cossak — Manners  and  appearance  of  the  Cossaks— Government — 
Armies  of  the  Don — Zaporogian  Cossaks — Territory  of  tlie  Cossaks  of  the  Don — Armies — -Edu- 
cation— Shooting  party — Sepulchral  crosses — Eastern  ceremonies — Donskoy  wine — Morasses 
below  Tcherkask — Flooded  country — Story  of  Circassian  prince '.....  223 

CHAPTER  VHI. 

TCHERKASK  TO  LEOPOLD. 

Fisheries — Azoph — Tchernoimoiski  Cossaks — Ferocity  of  an  Ox — Ecathcrinodar — Church — Quaran- 
tine —  Circassians — The  Cuban  —  Cossak  forts  —  Danger  from  the  Circassians  —  Tremrook  — 
Taman — Sultan  Selim  Gerai — Mire  Fountains — Passage  to  Kertch — Pelicans — Town  of  Kertch 
— Antiquities — Buzzards — Kaffa— Ruins — German  Colonists — Polish  Jew  interpreter — Sudak — 
Dr.  Pallas — Wine — Kaya — Lambat — Partenak — Ayou  Dagh — Sugar  from  the  walnut  tree — 
Vale  of  Baidar — Aktiar — Batchiserai — Palace — Jew's  Rock — Akmetchet — Kibitkas  of  the  Nogay 
Tartars — Perckop — Character  of  Tartars — Women — Berislav — Steppes — Cherson — Tomb  of 
Howard — Odessa — Due  de  Richelieu — Podolia — Jews — Brody — Leopold 250 

CHAPTER   IX. 

LEMBERG  TO  YARMOUTH. 

Przemisl — Daklo — Hungarians — Gj'pseys — Mineral  waters  of  Bartpha — Castle  built  by  Ragozzi — 
Wells — Jews— Hungarian  peasants — Funeral  —  Aperies  —  Castle  —  Caschau  —  School  —  Tokay 
wine — Szerwz — Calvinist  Church — Number  of  Protestants — Miskoltz — Kerestes — School — Erlau 
— Academy — Archbishop  of  Agria — Count  Esterhazy — Halwar — Buda — Wine — Danube — Hun- 
garian dress — Vienna — Theatres — German  literature — The  Prater — Baden — Events  of  the  war 
— Conduct  of  French  in  Vienna — Buonaparte — Briinn — Battle  of  Austerlitz — Prague — Dresden 
— Leipzig — Moravians — Halle — Wittenberg  —  Luther  and  Melancthon  —  Potsdam  —  Berlin  — 
Hamburg — Yarmouth 282 

CHAPTER  X. 

Mr.  Reginald  Heber's  return  home — Elections — Letter  from  Sir  James  Riddell — Dinner  given  to  the 
Hodnet  Volunteers — Oxford  University  election — Reflections  on  the  battle  of  Jena — Different 
routes  through  Sweden,  Norway,  &c.  Sec.  described — Remarks  on  Calvin  and  St.  Augustin — On 
the  thirty-nine  Articles — Recollections  of  Mr.  Reginald  Heber's  university  career,  in  a  letter 
from  a  friend — "  Romaunt  du  grand  Roye  Pantagruelle" — Jeux  d'esprit — Lines  written  at  Bir- 
mingham— Reflections  on  taking  Orders — Publication  of  "  Europe" — Quarterly  Review  .     .     .  320 


CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER  XI. 


PAfiE 


Mr.  Reginald  Heber's  marriage — Anecdote — Settles  on  his  living — His  charities — Remarks  on  "  Cce- 
lebs,"  and  on  "  Zeal  without  innovation" — Translation  of  an  Ode  of  Klopstock's — Review  of 
Kerr  Porter's  travels  in  Russia — Luther — Clarke's  travels — "  Curse  of  Kehama" — Odes  of  Pin- 
dar  Duke  of  Gloucester's  installation — Prefatory  notice  to  the  Hymns  published  in  the  Chris- 
tian Observer — Dictionary  of  the  Bible — "  Morte  d'Arthur" — Poems — Illness,  and  removal  to 
Moreton ^^^ 


CHAPTER  XH. 

Publication  of  Mr.  Reginald  Heber's  poems — Letter  on  the  death  of  Lieutenant  R.  J.  Shipley — Let- 
ter on  the  Russian  navy — Illness — Letter  on  lay-baptism — War  in  Russia — Moscow — Lucien 
Buonaparte's  "  Charlemagne" — Remarks  on  Sir  William  Drummond's  "  Qulipus  Judaicus" — Ma- 
dame de  Stael — "De  I'Allemagne" — Bible  Society — Wilkins'  "  Siege  of  Jerusalem" — Letter  on 
the  languages  of  the  North  of  Europe — Death  of  Colonel  Hill — "  History  of  the  Cossaks"     .     .  375 


CHAPTER  XHI. 


Dissenters — Letter  to  a  Roman  Catholic — Allied  Sovereigns  at  Paris — Review  of  Madame  de  Stael's 
"  De  TAllemagne" — Letter  from  Madame  de  Stael — "  Lara" — Mr.  Reginald  Heber's  return  to 
Hodnet — His  mode  of  life — Anecdote — Correspondence  with  Mr.  Rowland  Hill — Preaches  the 
Hampton  Lectures — Letter  from  Lord  Grenville — Controversy  with  Mr.  Nolan — Remarks  on 
Corn  Bill — "Champion" — Distresses  of  the  country — Eastern  poetry 407 


CHAPTER  XIV. 


Death  of  the  Rev.  T.  C.  Heber — "  Timour's  Councils" — Milman's  "  Siege  of  Jerusalem" — Heads  of 
a  proposed  pamphlet  "  On  the  Causes  of  the  present  Discontents" — Kinneir's  "  Travels  in  Asia 
Minor" — "  Childe  Harold" — Mr.  Reginald  Heber's  appointment  as  University  Preacher — Frag- 
ment of  the  "  Masque  of  Gwendolen"— Bowdler's  "  Select  Pieces  in  Prose  and  Verse" — The 
distresses  of  the  country — Anecdote  of  a  beggar — Treatise  on  the  distinction  between  the  two 
Maries 439 


I 
1 


CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER  XV. 


Mr.  Reginald  Heber  appointed  Prebendary  of  St.  Asaph — "  The  Spring  Journey" — "  Happiness" — 
"  Carol  for  May-day" — Ladies'  Association  at  Cornwallis  House — Oxlee  "  On  the  Trinity" — 
Distress  in  Shropshire — Mr.  Nolan — Southey's  "  History  of  the  Brazils" — Chaliner's  "  Astrono- 
mical Discourses" — Proposed  heads  of  Mr.  Reginald  Heber's  University  Sermons — "  Sketch  of 
the  Military  and  Political  Power  of  Russia" — Typhus  fever  at  Hodnet — Birth  of  Mr.  Reginald 
Heber's  first  child — Proposed  union  between  the  Society  for  the  Propagation  of  the  Gospel  and 
the  Church  Missionary  Society — Changes  in  Oxford — Death  of  Mr.  Reginald  Heber's  child.     .  -173 


CHAPTER  XVI. 


Lines  by  Dr.  Turner — Fragment  of  a  poem  on  the  same  subject  with  Montgomery's  "  World  before 
the  Flood" — Bristed's  "  America" — "  The  outward-boimd  Ship" — "The  Ground  Swell" — Lines 
to  C.  H.  Townshend  "  On  Hope" — Ordination  Sermon — Letter  to  the  Editor  of  the  Christian 
Remembrancer 501 


CHAPTER  XVH. 

Critique  on  Scott's  "  Force  of  Truth" — Mr.  Reginald  Heber  undertakes  to  write  a  Life  of  Jeremy 
Taylor,  and  a  Critical  Essay  on  his  writings — The  Traveller's  Club — Inscription  to  the  Memory 
of  the  Honourable  Frederic  S.  N.  Douglas 533 


APPENDIX. 

History  of  the  Cossaks  -  ..----  561 


LIFE 


OF 


REGINALD     HEBER. 


CHAPTER   I. 

Family  of  Ilebcr — birth  of  Reginald  Heher — Anecdotes — Early  education — School — 
"  Prophecy  of  Ishmael" — Correspondence  at  Neasdon — Letter  on  Church  stipends 
and  government — Entrance  at  college — "  Carmen  Seculare" — All  Souls  mallard 
feast — Correspondence  at  Oxford — Imitation  of  a  poem  by  Robert  Duke  of  Nor- 
mandy— Lines  on  alchemy — Recitation  of  "  Palestine" — Anecdote — "  Honour 
its  men  reward:''' — Death  of  Mr.  Hebcr — Election  to  All  SouPs  college — "  Sense 
of  Honour" 

The  family  of  Heber,  or  Ilayber,  as  the  word  appears  from  some  chap. 
original  papers  in  Bolton  Abbey  to  have  been  formerly  written,  1728. 
and  is  still  vulgarly  pronounced,  is  of  considerable  antiquity  in  the 
county  of  York,  and  is  supposed  to  derive  its  name  from  a  hill  in 
Craven,  called  Hayber  or  Haybergh  '.  The  estate  of  Marton, 
originally  purchased  from  its  ancient  owners  of  that  name,  by 
Thomas  Heber,  was,  for  many  generations,  the  residence  of  his 
descendants,  and  is  still  in  the  possession  of  Richard  Heber,  Esq, 
Reginald  Heber,  second  son  of  Thomas  Heber  and  Elizabeth 
Atherton,  his  wife,  was  born  in  the  year  1728.     On  his  elder  bro- 

'  Whitaker's  History  of  Craven. — In  Elizabeth's  reign,  an  official  certificate  was  granted 
from  the  Heraltl's  College,  to  Reginald  Heber  of  Marton,  of  the  arms  acknowledged  to  have 
been  previously  borne  by  the  family,  viz.  "  party  per  fess  B  and  G,  a  lion  rampant,  Or  ;  in  the 
dexter  chief  point  a  cinquefoil  A.  Crest,  out  of  a  ducal  coronet,  Or,  a  woman's  head  and 
shoulders  proper,  in  profile,  crined  Or." 

VOL.   I.  B 


•  BIRTH— ANECDOTES. 

CHAP,  ther's  death,  without  heh-s  male,  he  succeeded  him  as  lord  of  the 
1783.  manors,  and  patron  of  the  rectories  of  Marton,  in  Yorkshire,  and 
of  Hodnet,  in  the  county  of  Salop,  which  last  estate  had,  by  inter- 
marriage with  the  house  of  Vernon,  come  hito  the  possession  of 
the  family.  He  married  first,  Mary,  co-heiress  of  the  Rev.  Martin 
Baylie,  rector  of  Wrentham,  in  Suffolk,  who  died,  leaving  one  son, 
Richard,  late  M.P.  for  the  University  of  Oxford  ;  secondly,  Mary, 
daughter  of  Cuthbert  Allanson,  D.D.,  by  whom  he  left  three  chil- 
dren, Reginald,  Thomas  Cuthbert,  and  Mary. 

Reginald,  the  lamented  subject  of  this  memoir,  was  born 
April  21st,  1783,  at  Malpas,  in  the  county  of  Chester,  of  which 
his  father  was  for  many  years  co-rector.  His  early  childhood  was 
distinguished  by  mildness  of  disposition,  obedience  to  his  parents, 
consideration  for  the  feelings  of  those  around  him,  and  by  that 
trust  in  God's  providence  which  formed,  through  life,  so  promi- 
nent a  part  of  his  character.  When  little  more  than  two  years 
old,  he  was  dangerously  ill  with  the  hooping-cough,  for  which  he 
was  ordered  tobe  blooded :  his  mother  took  him  on  her  knees, 
saying,  "  Dr.  Currie  wishes  you  to  lose  a  little  blood ;  I  hope  you 
will  not  object :"  his  answer  was,  "  I  will  do  whatever  you  please, 
mamma."     On  the  nurse  screaming  out  that  they  were  going  to 

murder  her  child,   "  Poor ,"  Reginald  said,  "  let  her  go  down 

stairs."  The  apothecary  then  took  hold  of  his  arm,  on  which  he 
exclaimed,  "  Do  not  hold  me ;"  when  assured  that  if  he  moved,  he 
would  be  much  more  hurt,  "  I  won't  stir,"  he  replied,  and  steadily 
held  out  his  arm,  looking  the  whole  time  at  the  operation. 

The  following  year,  when  travelling  with  his  parents  in  a  very 
stormy  day,  across  the  mountainous  country  between  Rijwn  and 
Craven,  his  mother  was  much  alarmed,  and  proposed  to  leave  the 
carriage  and  walk.  Reginald,  sitting  on  her  knee,  said,  "  Do  not 
be  afraid  mamma,  God  will  take  care  of  us."  These  words  spoken, 
as  she  herself  expressed  it,  "  by  the  infant  monitor,  carried  with 
them  conviction  to  her  heart,  which  forty-three  years  of  joy  and 
sorrow  had  not  effaced."  In  1787,  he  had  an  attack  of  inflamma- 
tion of  the  lungs,  and  was  very  dangerously  ill ;  the  severe   reme- 


ANECDOTES.  < 

dies  to  which  he   was  forced  to  submit,  were  borne  without  a    chap. 
murmur,  and  his  patience  was  so  remarkable,  that  on  his  father     ^89. 
asking  the  physician  whetlier  there  was  any  hope  of  saving  his  hfe, 
Dr.  Currie  answered,  "  If  lie  were  not  the  most  tractable  child  T 
ever  saw  there  would  be  none ;  but  I  think  he  will  recover."     In 
childhood  he    suffered  much  from  inflammatory  disorders ;    the 
hours  of  convalescence  were  invariably  employed  in  endeavouring 
to  acquire  information ;  and  at  six  years  old,  after  an  attack  of 
typhus  fever  which  again  nearly  brought  him  to  the  grave,  the 
first  indulgence    for   which  he  pleaded  was  to  learn  the  Latin 
grammar,  that  he  might  have  some  employment  while  lying  in 
bed.     He  could  read  the  Bible  with  fluency  at  five  years  old,  and> 
even  then,  was  remarkable  for  the  avidity  with  which  he  studied 
it,  and  for  his  accurate  knowledge  of  its  contents.     A  discussion 
had  one  day,  about  this  time,  arisen  in  his  absence  between  his 
father  and  some  friends  as  to  the  book  in  the  Old  Testament  in 
which  a  particular  passage  was  to  be  found.     On  Reginald's  enter- 
ing the  room,  his  father  referred  the  question  to  him,  when  he  at 
once  named  both  the  book  and  the  chapter. 

It  was  by  Mr.  Heber's  direction  that  the  Bible  was  first  put 
into  his  hands,  in  preference  to  any  abridgment  of  it,  in  order  that 
he  might  become  more  familiar  with  its  beautiful  language,  and 
more  ready  in  applying  it.  The  memory  with  which  he  was 
endowed  enabled  him  fully  to  profit  by  this  system  ;  and  its  effects 
were  visible  in  the  piety  which  marked  his  youth,  and  was  his  dis- 
tinguishing characteristic  through  hfe.  A  trifling  anecdote  will 
serve  to  prove  his  intimate  acquaintance  with  the  Sacred  Volume  ; 
when  he  was  about  seven  years  old  a  party  of  his  yovmg  compa- 
nions were  amusing  themselves  with  riddles  and  cross  questions  in 
the  room  where  he  was  reading.  His  attention  was  attracted  by 
the  question,  "  Where  was  Moses  when  his  candle  went  out  ?" 
"  On  Mount  Nebo,"  was  Reginald's  immediate  reply  ;  "  for  there 
he  died,  and  it  may  well  be  said  that  his  lamp  of  life  went  out." 

He  very  early  became  sensible  of  the  necessity  and  importance 
of  prayer,  and  was  frequently  overheard  praying  aloud  in  his  own 

b2 


t  ANECDOTES. 

CHAP,    room,  when  he  Httle  thought  himself  within  reach  of  observation. 

i7«!'.  His  sense  of  his  entire  dependance  upon  God,  and  of  thankfulness 
for  the  mercies  which  he  received,  was  deep,  and  almost  an  instinct 
planted  in  his  nature ;  to  his  latest  hour,  in  joy  as  in  sorrow,  his 
heart  was  ever  hfted  up  in  thankfulness  for  the  goodness  of  his 
Maker,  or  bowed  in  resignation  under  His  chastisements  ;  and  his 
first  impulse,  when  afflicted  or  rejoicing,  was  to  fall  on  his  knees  in 
thanksgiving,  or  in  intercession  for  himself,  and  for  those  he  loved, 
through  the  mediation  of  his  Saviour. 

He  had  a  considerable  talent  for  drawing,  especially  for  archi- 
tectural designs ;  and  the  juvenile  sketches,  almost  entirely  from 
fancy,  which  have  been  preserved  by  his  family,  bear  strong  marks 
of  genius,  and  give  promise  of  the  superiority  to  which,  with  little 
or  no  instruction,  he  afterwards  attained  in  that  art.  The  study  of 
natural  history  was  also  a  favourite  pursuit ;  and  he  was  fond  of 
exercising  his  powers  of  observation  in  watching  the  changes  of 
insects,  and  the  various  habits  of  animals  and  birds  ;  but  the  kind- 
ness of  his  heart  would  never  permit  him  to  keep  any  creatures  in 
confinement,  far  less  to  gratify  his  curiosity  at  the  expense  of  their 
sufferings.  When  his  little  sister  had  a  squirrel  given  her,  he  per- 
suaded her  to  set  it  at  liberty,  taking  her  to  a  tree,  that  she  might 
see  the  animal's  joy  at  being  restored  to  freedom.  His  mind 
seemed  never  to  be  at  rest ;  and  occasionally,  when  with  his  play- 
fellows, he  would  remain  silent,  absorbed  in  his  own  meditations, 
and  insensible  to  every  thing  around  him.  As  his  memory  retained 
the  information  he  acquired  from  every  possible  source,  so,  as  his 
understanding  strengthened,  he  corrected  the  errours  into  which  his 
almost  unassisted  researches  in  various  branches  of  knowledge 
naturally  led  him.  From  a  child  he  was  inquisitive,  always  eager 
to  obtain  instruction,  and  never  above  asking  the  opinions  of  others, 
but  with  a  modesty  of  manner,  and  evident  anxiety  to  acquire 
knowledge,  which  prevented  his  being  thought  intrusive,  and 
ensured  him  the  attention  of  those  with  whom  he  conversed.  To 
this  habit,  persevered  in  through  life,  he  attributed  much  of  the 
desultory  knowledge  which  he  acquired ;  and  the  editor  has  fre- 


ANECDOTES. 

quently   heard  him  remark,    that  he  never  met  with  a  person,    ^^^hai 
liowever  deficient  in  general  attainments,  from  whom  he  could  not      ii«'J- 
ac(|uire  some  instructive  information  :  for  he  possessed  the  rare  art 
of  inducing  people,  apparently  without  design,  to  converse  upon 
such  subjects  as  they  were  best  acquainted  with,  and  on  which  they 
were,  consequently,  most  able  to  appear  with  advantage. 

It  was  a  common  saying  among  the  servants  of  the  fiimily, 
that  "  Master  Reginald  never  was  in  a  passion."  It  is  not,  of 
course,  intended  to  assert  that  he  was  insensible  to  the  natural 
emotions  of  anger  and  disappointment,  but  that  even  in  childhood 
he  had  so  completely  acquired  the  habit  of  subduing  the  outward 
expression  of  these  feelings,  that  he  was  never  heard  to  raise  his 
voice  in  anger,  or  to  use  an  impatient  expression.  Emotions  of  a 
more  tender  nature  he  had  considerable  difficulty  in  suppressing  ; 
but  from  the  sorrow  of  the  boy  on  leaving  his  parents  for  school,  to 
that  of  the  man  on  parting  from  all  he  had  early  loved,  to  em- 
bark for  a  distant  and  dangerous  country,  and  under  all  the  afflic- 
tions with  which  his  life  was  chequered,  such  was  the  command 
he  had  obtained  over  himself,  that,  save  by  a  glistening  of  the 
eye,  or  an  increased  paleness,  only  those  who  were  acquainted 
with  the  unbounded  tenderness  of  his  heart  and  the  strength  of 
his  feelings,  could  estimate  what  he  was  suffering. 

Reading  was  his  principal  amusement  from  the  time  he  knew 
his  letters  ;  his  elder  brother,  to  whose  affectionate  superintend- 
ance  through  life  of  his  graver  studies,  he  justly  considered  him- 
self much  indebted,  used  to  say,  "  Reginald  did  more  than  read 
books,  he  devoured  them  ;"  and  when  thus  occupied,  it  was  with 
difficulty  that  his  attention  could  be  Avithdrawn.  At  almost  a 
single  glance  his  eye  embraced  the  contents  of  a  whole  page  ;  and 
these  were  so  strongly  impressed  upon  his  memory,  that,  years 
after,  he  was  able  to  repeat  the  substance  of  what  he  then  read ; 
while  such  passages  as  more  particularly  struck  him,  were  atten- 
tively perused  once,  and  remembered  through  life  with  verbal 
accuracy. 

Mr.  Heber's  library  was  small ;  and  it  was  one  of  Reginald's 


I  EARLY  EDUCATION. 

CHAP,  greatest  indulgences  to  visit  Dr.  Townson,  Rector  of  the  lower 
1790.  mediety  of  Malpas,  and  look  over  his  books,  especially  his  en- 
ffravinffs.  This  he  was  never  allowed  to  do  in  Dr.  Townson's 
absence,  for,  besides  that  he  then  placed  little  value  on  books 
after  having  once  stored  his  mind  with  their  contents,  and  was  in 
consequence  careless  in  his  treatment  of  them,  Dr.  Townson  was 
fond  of  answering  his  questions,  and  of  giving  him  such  instruction 
as  was  fitted  for  his  age.  His  father,  himself  an  excellent  scholar, 
taught  him  the  rudiments  of  classical  learning ;  his  application  and 
quickness  were  such,  that  at  seven  years  old  he  had  translated 
Phaedrus  into  English  verse.  The  following  year  he  was  placed  at 
the  grammar  school  of  Whitchurch  under  Dr.  Kent ;  and  here  a 
singular  instance  occurred  of  that  perfect  power  of  abstraction  of 
which  his  mind  was  capable.  He  had  remained  in  the  school-room 
one  day  after  the  usual  school  hours,  to  enjoy  a  new  book  which 
had  just  been  given  him,  and  so  completely  was  he  abstracted  in  it, 
that  he  was  not  the  least  aware  of  a  "  barring  out,"  which,  with 
all  its  accompanying  noise  and  confusion,  had  been  going  on  for  a 
couple  of  hours  round  him,  and  of  which  he  became  conscious  as 
the  increasing  darkness  forced  him  to  lay  down  his  book. 

The  diffidence  natural  to  young  and  ingenuous  minds,  and 
usually  observed  to  accompany  genius,  was  conspicuous  in  his 
character;  his  youthful  attempts  at  poetical  composition  were  kept 
in  secret,  and  discovered  by  accident.  He  was  fond  of  reading 
and  reciting  poetry,  but,  as  a  boy,  had  no  claim  to  elegance  of 
delivery ;  in  his  brother  he  had,  however,  an  example  which  he  had 
discernment  to  value ;  and  he  used  to  listen  to  his  recitations  with 
attention,  and  endeavour  to  imitate  his  tones  and  manner  of  re- 
peating verses. 

In  1796  he  was  placed  under  the  care  of  Mr.  Bristow,  a 
clergyman  who  took  about  twelve  pupils  at  Neasdon,  in  the  neigh- 
bourhood of  London.  It  was  here  that  an  intimacy  commenced 
between  him  and  Mr.  John  Thornton,  eldest  son  of  Samuel 
Thornton,  late  M.P.  for  Surry,  which  soon  ripened  into  a 
friendship  cemented  by  rehgious  feelings,  and  by  a  similarity  of 


BENEVOLENCE  OF  DISPOSITION. 

tastes  and  pursuits  :  and,  although  in  after  Hfe  they  were  neces-    t  hai*. 
sarily  much  separated  by  the  duties  of  their  respective  professions,      'tou 
that  friendshi})  was  preserved  and  increased  by  constant  corres- 
pondence,  and  ever   glowed  with  undiminished  warmth  in    the 
breast  of  him,  who,  having  been  early  removed  from  this  world, 
now  awaits  a  reunion  with  his  friend  in  the  mansions  of  bliss. 

The  editor  of  these  volumes  has  Mr.  Thornton's  authority  for 
saying,  that  although  Reginald  Heber,  while  at  Neasdon,  may  have 
been  occasionally  led  into  trivial  errours,  yet  was  he  perfectly  free 
from  any  serious  faults  ;  and,  amid  the  jarring  feelings,  and,  in  some 
instances,  depraved  dispositions  of  his  school-fellows,  he  was  the 
boy  to  whom  all  the  well-disposed  looked  with  deference,  and  the 
tendency  of  whose  example  was  to  give  a  tone  of  rectitude  to  the 
school,  and  to  command  the  ap])robation  even  of  those  who  could 
estimate  excellence  in  another,  though  themselves  incapable  of 
imitating  it. 

His  natural  benevolence  and  charitableness  were  fostered, 
and,  as  far  as  possible,  directed  by  his  parents.  Though  much 
disliking  cards,  he  would  occasionally,  when  at  home,  join  in  a 
round  game  with  his  young  companions,  because  it  was  the  rule  of 
his  family  to  give  the  winnings  to  the  poor  ;  and  he  was  always 
ready  to  promote  every  plan  which  was  suggested  for  such  an 
object.  Of  his  own  money  he  was  so  liberal,  it  was  found  necessary 
to  sew  the  bank  notes  given  him  for  his  half-year's  pocket-money 
at  school,  within  the  lining  of  his  pockets,  that  he  might  not  give 
them  away  in  charity  on  the  road.  On  one  occasion,  before  this 
precaution  had  been  taken,  he  gave  all  the  money  he  possessed  to 
a  poor  man  who  stated  that  he  was  a  clergyman,  but  that,  having 
lost  his  sight,  he  lost  his  curacy,  and  his  means  of  subsistence. 
This  person  afterwards  found  his  way  to  Malpas,  and  from  his 
recognition  by  the  servant  who  had  attended  Reginald  to  school, 
this  act  of  beneficence  was  made  known  to  his  parents,  for  of  his 
own  deeds  he  never  boasted ;  and,  as  was  remarked  by  the  old 
servant,  who  mentioned  the  circumstance,  "  his  left  hand  knew 
not  what  his  right  hand  did." 


EARLY  HABITS  AND  PURSUITS. 


(  H.\r. 
I. 


During  the  early  part  of  his  residence  at  Neasdon,  he  had 
been  reading  an  account  of  the  manner  in  which  one  of  our 
African  travellers  had  successfully  parried  the  attack  of  a  wild  bull. 
There  happened  to  be  grazing  in  a  field  adjoining  to  Mr.  Bristow's 
garden  a  bull  of  no  very  peaceable  disposition.  Reginald  resolved 
on  making  a  similar  experiment  with  this  animal,  and  advanced 
towards  it,  holding  his  hat  before  his  face,  and  acting  all  the  gesti- 
culations of  which  he  had  been  reading,  fully  anticipating  its  instant 
flight.  On  the  contrary,  the  bull  ran  furiously  at  him,  and  he  only 
escaped  by  jumping  over  some  rails  into  the  garden.  In  this 
garden  was  a  pool  of  water,  divided  from  the  rails  by  a  narrow 
gravel  walk,  into  which  the  bull,  not  being  active  enough  to  turn 
short  round  like  his  adversary,  plunged,  and  after  floundering 
forwards  for  some  time,  remained  sticking  fast  in  the  mud  with  his 
head  not  many  feet  from  an  alcove  on  the  opposite  side,  in  which 
sat,  quietly  at  their  tea,  Mr.  and  Miss  Bristow,  little  expecting 
such  a  visitor. 

For  the  following  account  of  Reginald's  habits  and  pursuits, 
the  editor  is  indebted  to  Mr.  Thornton,  who  was  his  class-fellow 
during  the  three  years  they  were  together  at  Neasdon. 

"  Reginald  was  endowed  by  nature  with  a  strong  memory 
and  a  lively  imagination,  both  of  which  had  been  cultivated  to 
an  extraordinary  degree  at  the  early  age  of  thirteen,  by  the 
constant  habit  of  employing  a  large  part  of  his  leisure  hours  in 
reading. 

"He  was  not  remarkable  for  quickness  of  apprehension, 
neither  was  he  defective  in  it ;  but  in  this  respect  his  class-fellows 
had  sometimes  the  credit  of  surpassing  him,  in  consequence  of 
his  frequently  suffering  his  mind  to  wander  to  other  subjects 
than  those  immediately  before  him. 

"  His  superiority  was  however  manifested  by  his  composi- 
tions in  prose  and  verse,  but  especially  the  latter.  In  his  prose 
exercises  there  was  a  maturity  of  thought  and  a  display  of  know- 
ledge greatly  beyond  his  years ;  and  his  verses  were  always  spirited 
and  original,  or  if  any  of  the  thoughts  or  expressions   were  bor- 


SCHOOL.  i 

rowed,  they  proceeded  from  sources  little  kno\Mi  to  ordinary  chap. 
readers,  and  certainly  not  to  his  school-fellows.  Spenser  was  iv'j''- 
always  one  of  his  favourite  authors.  With  his  Faerie  Queene '  in 
his  pocket,  he  would  sally  forth  on  a  long  solitary  walk,  whilst  his 
comrades  were  occupied  with  the  common  sports  of  school-boys, 
in  which  he  seldom  engaged.  Yet  he  was  by  no  means  unpopular 
on  this  account.  On  the  contrary,  his  invulnerable  temper,  his 
ovei-flowing  kindness  of  heart,  his  constant  cheerfulness,  and  his 
inexhaustible  power  of  entertaining  his  companions,  secured  to 
him  the  affection  of  all,  whether  older  or  younger  than  himself 
In  the  long  winter  evenings,  a  group  of  boys  was  frequently  formed 
round  him,  whilst  he  narrated  some  chivalrous  history,  or  repeated 
ancient  ballads,  or  told  some  wild  tale,  partly  derived  from  books, 
and  partly  from  his  own  invention  -. 

"  For  the  exact  sciences,  or  for  critical  knowledge,  Reginald 
had  no  taste.  When  asked  the  date  of  a  particular  event,  he 
could  seldom  give  it,  but  he  always  knew  who  were  alive  at  the 
time  of  its  occurrence,  by  whose  agency  it  was  brought  about, 
and  what  were  the  important  consequences  that  resulted  from  it. 
In  like  manner  the  structm-e  of  the  ancient  languages  was  to  him 
a  matter  of  secondary  importance,  which  he  attended  to  only  as 
far  as  he  was  obliged  by  his  school  lessons  and  exercises. 

"  The  sense  of  the  author  was  eagerly  grasped  at  by  him,  but 
the  mere  scaffolding  of  learning  he  only  esteemed  as  the  means  of 
arriving  at  that  sense.  Fond,  however,  as  he  was  of  acquiring 
knowledge  for  its  own  sake,  he  was  not  insensible  to  the  value  of 
hterary  reputation  ;  he  often  spoke  with  admiration  of  the  dis- 
tinguished scholars  of  past  times,  and  used  to  say,  that  with  such 
examples  before  him,  idleness  was  inexcusable.     Reginald  also 

'  This  admiration  of  the  "  Faerie  Queene"  he  preserved  in  his  maturer  years  ;  he  seldom 
travelled  without  a  volume  of  the  same  copy  wliicli  he  had  at  scliool,  to  read  on  the  road. — 
Editor. 

^  At  a  much  later  period  he,  in  a  similar  manner,  attracted  his  friends  round  him  to  listen 
to  a  romance  of  his  own  composition.     "  Tell  us  a  story,"  from  any  of  the  home  circle,  was 
immediately  followed  by  long  and  ingenious  histories,  which  the  Editor  now  laments  were  not 
committed  to  paper,  but  were  forgotten  almost  as  soon  as  they  were  told. 
VOL.  I.  C 


10  SCHOOL. 

CHAP,     felt  the  stimulus  of  emulation  in  his  daily  studies ;  but  there  was 
1798.      no  want  of  generous  feeling  when  he  happened  to  be  surpassed. 
Generosity  was   indeed   an  eminently   conspicuous   part   of  his 
character,  not  only  as  a  boy,  but  in  every  period  and  relation  of 
after  life.     Elevated  by  his  intellectual  pursuits  and   pleasures 
above  the  ordinary  gratifications  of  school-boys,  he  had  perhaps 
the  less  difficulty  in  resigning  his  share  of  them  whenever  a  com- 
petition  occurred.     Self-denial  in   such  matters   seemed  not  to 
cost  him  an  effort,  and  I  do  not  recollect  an  occasion  on  which 
that   preference  of  self,  which,  till  subdued   by  religion,   is   so 
common  to  our  nature,  was  ever  evinced  by  him.     Still,  though 
of  an  unusually  mild  and  yielding  disposition,  he  was  capable  of 
being  roused  by  oppression,  and  of  making  a  vigorous  resistance 
against  it ;  and  I  well  remember  an  instance,  when,  though  sure 
of  being   worsted   in   the  conflict  by   the   superior  strength   of 
his  adversary,  he  fought  manfully  for  the  purpose,  as  he  said,  of 
teaching  his  opponent  that  tyranny  should  not  be  practised  on  him 
with  impunity. 

"  At  this  early  period  of  his  life,  a  reverence  for  every  thing 
sacred,  and  a  remarkable  purity  of  thought,  were  eminent  points  in 
his  character. 

"  Though  many  of  his  school-fellows  were  habitually  profane 
and  licentious  in  their  conversation,  their  example  had  no  in- 
fluence on  him,  whilst  his  own  had  the  most  salutary  effect  on 
those  who,  but  for  him,  would  have  been  too  weak  to  resist  the 
torrent  of  vice  to  which  they  were  daily  exposed." 

Of  the  progress  of  Reginald's  studies,  his  letters  to  his  friend, 
who  left  the  school  some  little  time  before  his  own  removal  to 
college,  will  give  the  best  information.  His  reading  the  Bible  was 
not  interrupted  by  his  classical  pursuits.  At  the  time  of  Buona- 
parte's invasion  of  Egypt,  "  The  Battle  of  the  Nile"  was  the 
subject  given  for  a  school  exercise  in  the  class  to  which  he  be- 
longed; and  the  following  are  some  of  the  verses  which  he  wrote 
on  t'.iat  occasion,  and  which  he  the  following  year  designated  as 
"  The  Prophecy  of  Ishmael." 


THE   PROPHECY   OF   ISHMAEL.  1' 


THE  PROPHECY  OF  ISHMAEL. 

When  Buonaparte  led  his  weary  train 
Through  the  parch' tl  sands  of  Egypt's  thirsty  plain ; 
^Vllere  erst  around  the  Delia's  fertile  isle 
Flow'd  the  seven  daughters  of  the  silver  Nile, 
Now  chok'd  with  sand,  their  ancient  glorj-  fled, 
But  foiu-  surviving,  moiuii  their  sisters  dead  ; 
Where  even  fancy's  eye  can  hardly  trace 
The  fallen  splendour  of  the  Coptic  race ; 
"WTiere  prostrate  lies,  mid  t;uigk-d  brakes  of  thorn, 
The  harj)  that  once  spontaneous  hailed  the  mom : 
WTiero  Sesack's  obehsk  and  Isis'  bust, 
In  mingled  ruin  moulder  into  dust ; 
Where  still  the  pvTamids,  from  far  descried, 
Remain  the  monuments  of  regal  pride : 
Wliile  through  these  scenes  the  Gallic  squadrons  sped, 
And  march'd  o'er  heaps  of  valiant  Arabs  dead ; 
"^Tiilc  yet  with  recent  victor>-  elate. 
Onward  they  mov'd  in  military-  state  ; 
From  the  rough  rocks  that  border  Barca's  land 
A  voice  unearthly  hailed  the  affrighted  band. 
High  on  a  hill  that  veiled  its  mmky  brow 
In  clouds,  and  frown'd  upon  the  plain  below, 
Still  foncUy  watchfid  o'er  his  children's  good, 
The  shade  of  IMecca's  mighty  fomider  stood. 
Confess'd  he  stood,  known  by  his  dauntless  air. 
His  bow,  his  fillet,  and  his  length  of  hair. 
And,  "  Stay,  ye  fools,"  he  cried,  «  ye  madmen  stay, 
Nor  further  prosecute  yoiu:  vent'rous  way. 
Of  Syria's  sons  fiiU  many  a  numerous  host 
Their  lives  amid  my  burning  sands  have  lost ; 
There,  led  by  Persia's  tj-rant,  millions  fell. 
Nor  one  surviv'd  the  dismal  talc  to  tell. 
There  first  was  check'd  the  Macedonian  might, 
Repuls'd  and  baffled  in  th'  unequal  fight : 
My  sons  a  barrier  set  to  Roman  pride, 
And  many  a  legion  by  their  arrows  died; 
And  now  shall  Gaul  with  conqu'ring  armies  come  ? 
Gaul!  but  a  province  of  defeated  Rome  ! 
Shall  she  expell,  though  far  renowna'd  in  fight. 
The  sons  of  Ishmael  from  their  ancient  right  ? 

c  2 


CHAP. 

I. 

1798. 


12  CORRESPONDENCE  AT  NEASDON. 

CHAP.  No,  no ;  from  me,  ye  robbers,  leam  yom-  fate, 

lyijg.  Lament  and  die,  retm-n  is  now  too  late. 

■■  Far,  for  from  Gaul,  full  many  a  soldier  brave 

Shall,  mid  these  rocks,  unjjitied  find  a  grave  : 
Still,  man  by  man,  shall  perish  all  your  power, 
And  what  the  sword  shall  spare  the  plague  devour.' 
***** 


During  the  summer  holidays,  when  Reginald  was  about  four- 
teen, his  mother  missed  her  "  Companion  to  the  Altar/'  and  on  en- 
quiry being  made,  he  brought  it  to  her,  saying,  that  he  had  had  it 
about  three  weeks,  and  had  spent  many  hours  in  reading  it ;  that  he 
had  made  himself  master  of  its  contents  and  thoroughly  understood 
them,  and  begged  to  be  allowed  to  accompany  her  to  the  Altar 
on  the  next  Sacrament  Sunday,  to  which  his  happy  mother  con- 
sented with  tears  of  joy  and  affection.  Who  can  wonder  that  this 
promising  child  was  tenderly  beloved  by  his  parents,  whose  hearts 
expanded  with  gratitude  to  the  Giver  of  all  good  for  this,  the 
choicest  of  His  boons  ;  or  who  shall  estimate  the  sorrows  of  her, 
who  having  reared  this  treasure  from  infancy  to  manhood,  had 
watched  the  blossoming  of  those  opening  buds,  and  seen  them 
bring  forth  fruits  of  Heavenly  growth,  is  left  to  weep  over  his  early 
grave  !  Truly,  "  if  in  this  life  only  we  had  hope,  then  were  we 
most  miserable." 

To  John  Thornton,  Esq. 

Neasdon,  Nov.  8,  1799. 
"  Dear  Thornton, 

"  Your  account  of  your  mathematical  progress  quite 
frightens  me.  For  my  part,  I  confess  I  have  in  that  particular 
been  horridly  idle,  and  have  not  done  a  single  question  in  decimals 
since  the  holidays;  nay,  I  don't  believe  I  could  find  my  book: 
however  I  am  resolved  to  set  about  it  to-day. 

In  Greek  I  go  on  in  the  old  train,  being  now  deep  engaged  in 
Longinus,  Prometheus  Vinct.  and  the  Epistles  with  Locke's  com- 
mentary ;  besides  which,  I  read  the  "  Essay  on  the  Human  Under- 
standing" for  two  hours  every  evening  after  I  have  finished  my 


CORRESPONDENCE  AT  NEASDON.  13 

exercise.     Locke,  you  know,  I  used  to  think  very  stupid ;  but  I     chap. 
have  now  quite  altered  my  opinion.  '""»• 

"  Last  Tuesday,  as  being  the  5th  of  November,  was  celebrated 
accordingly ;  but,  as  cash  was  low,  and  weather  bad,  we  made  a 
very  poor  figure  ;  the  ground  about  the  fire  was  a  perfect  mire,  so 

that  W slipped  as  he  was  running  after  S ,  and  fell  head 

over  heels  into  the  bonfire,  where  he  was  very  near  enacting  Guy 
Fawkes.  Mr.  Bristow  had  company  that  evening  who  staid  all 
night,  and  had  very  near  caused  another  war,  for  as  they  breakfasted 
early,  and  had  not  been  provided  for,  they  eat  up  all  our  rolls,  and 

the  horror  which  seized  W.  R ,  on  learning  that  he  was  to 

breakfast  on  bread  and  butter,  was  little  short  of  phrenzy,  I  had 
more  to  say,  but  your  "  loves  of  the  triangles"  stick  so  in  my 
gizzard,  that  I  must  immediately  begin  to  hunt  for  my  "  Tutor's 
Assistant."  How  long  this  whim  will  keep  in  my  head  is  uncertain. 
At  present  it  has  full  possession  of  your  friend  and  imitator, 

"  Reginald  Heber." 


To  John  Thornton,  Esq. 

Neasdon,  Feb.  22,  1800. 
***** 

"  We  had  tolerably  pleasant  holidays  ;  you  will 
laugh  when  I  tell  you  that  a  misochorist  like  myself,  was  drawn 
into  a  party  to  a  ball.  They  thought,  I  believe,  to  cure  me  of  my 
antipathy  to  that  kind  of  see-saw  motion,  but  they  have  not  suc- 
ceeded ;  I  dislike  balls  as  much  as  ever. 

"  I  believe  you  will  remember  young  Bowler  the  baker,  how  he 
used  always  to  read  in  his  cart.  I  examined  his  books  some  days 
ago,  and  found  they  were  Volney,  Voltaire,  and  Godwin.  These 
are  the  fruits  of  circulating  libraries." 


14  CORRESPONDENCE  AT  NEASDON. 


CHAP. 

I. 

1800. 


To  John  Thornton,  Esq. 

Neasdon,  Feb.  26, 1800. 

" Dear  Thornton, 

"  Your  kind  letter,  which  I  received  yesterday, 
though  it  reheved  me  from  a  very  great  anxiety,  which  Payoud's 
imperfect  intelhgence  had  caused,  gave  me  the  sincerest  concern. 
I,  however,  rejoice  most  heartily  to  find  you  are  doing  so  well, 
and  trust  that  your  recovery  will  be  as  rapid  as  your  illness  was 
severe. 

"  I  am  now  eagerly  waiting  for  my  brother  Richard's  return  to 
England,  as  on  his  advice  will  depend  the  time  of  my  going  to  col- 
lege, and  the  choice  of  my  tutor.  I  should  wish  for  Harpur,  whom 
you  saw  at  Portsmouth.  You,  I  conclude,  will  be  very  soon  setting 
off  for  Cambridge ;  I  wish  Oxford  was  the  place  of  your  destina- 
tion instead,  since  Surtees  is  going  from  Christ  Church,  and  the 

pursuits  and  inclinations  of  W and  C are  nimis  aliena  a 

Sccevolce  studiis.  But  don't  tell  any  body  I  think  so.  I  must, 
therefore,  have  my  acquaintance  to  make ;  but  in  this  my  brother's 
introduction  will  no  doubt  be  of  great  use  to  me.  By  what  I  hear, 
I  conceive  you  are  very  lucky  in  having  such  a  person  as  Mr. 
Dealtry  to  introduce  you  at  college.  You  will  laugh  at  me  for 
talking  of  college  six  months  before  my  time,  but  Tendimiis  in 
Latium  is  the  principle  that  rules  us  all,  and  iEneas  talked  of 
Italy  when  he  was  only  at  Carthage. 

"  I  remain,  dear  Thornton, 

"  Your  affectionate  friend." 

The  next  letter,  written  at  seventeen,  though  not  exempt 
from  the  prejudices  of  a  youthful  and  ardent  spirit,  nor  from  er- 
rours  which  subsequent  experience  taught  him  to  correct,  displays 
the  bent  of  his  studies,  as  well  as  the  powers  of  his  mind  when 
employed  on  the  spiritual  and  temporal  affairs  of  that  Church  of 
which  he  was  to  become  so  distinguished  an  ornament. 


LETTER  ON  CHURCH  STIPENDS.  15 

CHAP. 

To  John  Thornton,  Esq.  laiio. 


Neasdon,  June  24, 1800. 

"  My  Dear  Thornton, 

"  Your  letter,  which  I  received  yesterday,  was  an 
agreeable  answer  to  one  which  I  had  sent  off  that  very  morning. 
I  am  glad  to  find  that  your  tour  has  been  pleasant  and,  I  trust, 
profitable.  I  fully  agree  with  you  respecting  the  stipends  of  the 
clergy.  Were  Queen  Anne's  bounty  better  regulated,  and  were 
it  ordered  that  every  clergyman  of  above  200/.  a  year  should,  bona 
fide,  pay  the  tenth  of  his  benefices  to  that,  or  some  other  similar 
institution,  and  so  on  in  such  an  ascending  scale  to  the  largest  pre- 
ferments as  might  be  thought  right  and  equal,  much  of  this  evil, 
and  all  its  attending  mischiefs  of  non-residence,  contempt  of  the 
ministry,  &c.,  might,  I  think,  without  inconvenience,  be  prevented. 
This  it  is  thought  was  the  intention  of  Queen  Anne  ;  but  the  death 
of  that  excellent  woman,  (for  I  am  tory  enough  to  think  very  highly 
of  her)  and  the  unfortunate  circumstances  which  followed,  threw 
obstacles  in  the  way  of  the  Church  which  I  fear  there  is  no  pro- 
bability of  its  being  able  to  get  over.  The  arbitrary  suppression 
of  ecclesiastical  assemblies,  the  disuse  and  contempt  into  w  hich 
apostolical  censure  and  penances  have  fallen,  and  the  number  of 
chapels  which,  though  many  of  them  are  served  by  episcopal 
clergymen,  are  yet  independent  of  their  spiritual  head,  the  bishop, 
(and  consequently  equally  schismatical  with  the  ephod  and  tera- 
phim  of  ]Micah)  have,  as  you  are  no  doubt  well  aware,  stripped  the 
Church  so  entirely  of  power,  and  rendered  it  in  every  thing  so 
dependent,  that  it  has  no  ability  to  help  itself  in  this  or  any  other 
point.  I  sincerely  pray  that  the  Almighty  would  put  it  into  the 
hearts  of  the  nursing  fathers  of  the  Church,  to  take  some  order  for 
the  comfort  of  her  ministers. 

I,  however,  am  rather  apt  to  regard  the  interference  of  tem- 
poral authority  in  these  matters  with  a  jealous  eye.  The  rulers  of 
this  world,  have  very  seldom  shoAvn  themselves  friendly  to  the  real 
interests  of  the   Church.      If  we  consider  the    conduct    of  the 


16  LETTER  ON  CHURCH  STIPENDS. 

CHAP,  government  in  the  times  of  the  reformation,  and  indeed  ever  smee, 
^«"»-  we  shall  always  find  it  has  been  more  friendly  to  its  own  avaricious 
and  ambitious  projects,  than  to  consult  what  is  just  and  pious. 
Even  the  piety  of  an  Edward  could  not  prevent  his  ministers 
from  enereasing,  instead  of  rectifying  those  evils  of  which  we 
comjDlain.  Besides,  I  really  do,  in  some  measure,  doubt  whether 
temporal  governors  may,  without  sacrilege,  meddle,  by  their  own 
single  authority,  with  the  revenues  of  the  Church.  This  appears 
to  have  been  the  opinion  of  Whitgift,  as  we  may  infer  from  his  well 
known  address  to  Queen  Elizabeth.  Let  then  the  representatives 
of  the  bishops,  priests,  and  deacons  of  the  empire  be  convened, 
and  by  their  advice  and  with  their  consent,  let  the  king,  as  head 
of  the  Church,  and  the  parliament,  as  guardians  of  the  laws,  take 
order  concerning  this  matter.  But  this  the  present  temper  of 
the  times  renders,  I  fear,  improbable.  I  am  not  one  of  those  who 
cry  the  Church  is  in  danger ;  on  the  contrary,  I  think  it  is  in  some 
measure  better  off  than  it  was  thirty  years  ago,  and  we  have  very 
great  reason  to  be  thankful  to  God  for  what  we  enjoy  ;  but  really, 
when  we  have  seen  a  bishop  refused  to  Virginia,  not  as  yet  dis- 
membered, at  a  time  when  popery  had  been  established  in  Canada, 
if  we  compare  the  magnificent  temples,  nay,  even  convents  of  the 
papists  in  England,  with  the  miserable  condition  of  the  episco- 
palians in  Scotland,  and  many  other  things  of  the  same  kind,  it  will 
scarcely  appear  that  ovu*  government  is  over-xealous  in  this  cause. 

I  think  you  are  very  lucky  in  your  acquaintance  with  Lord 
Teignraouth  ;  they  are  such  men,  as  you  have  described  him,  that 

are  to  keep  us  from  sinking.     Dr. I  have  heard  well  spoken 

of  before,  but  I  grieve  that,  as  you  tell  me,  he  is  negligent  even  of 
the  mint  and  cummin  of  our  Church.  If  our  ecclesiastical  ordi- 
nances are,  in  his  opinion,  lawful,  it  is  very  wrong  in  him  to  disobey 
his  superiors ;  if  otherwise,  when  he  entered  into  our  Churcli,  and 
declared  his  assent  to  our  articles  and  liturgy,  he  has  committed  a 
sin  which  I  fear,  in  some  measure,  resembles  that  for  which  there 
is  no  remission.  Perhaps  this  is  going  a  Httle  too  far  ;  but  it  is  dan- 
gerous ground,  when  a  man  declares  in  the  presence  of  the  Church 


LETTER  ON  CHURCH  STIPENDS.  17 

and  its  head,  that  he  is  moved  by  the  Holy  Ghost  to  join  a  society  t  hap. 
whose  institutions  he  thinks  unlawful.  Perhaps  you  may  have  i"""- 
been  misinformed,  or  I  may  have  misunderstood  you.  I  sincerely 
hope  so.  You  will,  possibly,  think  that  I  stand  too  much  on  cere- 
monies; but  you  must  consider,  that  though  an  indifferent  ceremony 
in  itself  is  nothing,  yet  when  commanded  by  lawful  authority  it 
must  be  obeyed. 

"  As  to  those  who,  being  prevented  by  the  fear  of  poverty  from 
entering  into  orders,  set  up  a  high  place  of  their  own,  I  think  we 
have  no  great  loss  of  them  in  the  Church.  '  How  can  a  man 
preach,'  says  the  apostle,  meaning,  I  suppose,  take  upon  him  the 
office  of  a  minister, '  unless  he  be  sent  ?'  But  how  can  he  prove  his 
mission,  even  to  himself,  unless  it  be  confirmed  either  by  the  impo- 
sition of  hands  by  the  Church,  or  by  miracles  ?  Even  our  Savioin- 
did  not  take  upon  Himself  his  office  till  such  time  as  God  visibly 
and  manifestly,  by  a  miraculous  descent  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  set  Him 
apart  for  this  work.  '  This  honour  no  man  taketh  to  himself.' 
As  for  those  poor  wretches  whom  the  oratory  of  men  seduces  into 
schism,  I  wish  they  understood  the  excellent  distinction  you  made 
between  prayer  and  preaching  when  I  was  last  in  your  company ; 
which  sentiment  of  yours  corresponded  entirely  in  substance,  and 
almost  in  words,  ^vith  a  beautiful  passage  in  the  fifth  book  of  my 
favourite  '  Hooker's  Eccl.  Pol.'  This  would  teach  them  not  to 
shun  our  Church  for  the  faults  of  its  ministers,  who,  however,  if 
they  preach  unsoundly,  or  if  they  are  entirely  insufficient,  should 
be  complained  of  to  their  governors  ;  though  in  this  case  we 
shall  do  well  to  consider  that  the  treasures  of  God  are  sometimes 
enclosed  in  earthen  vessels.  I  must  apologize  for  the  length  of  my 
letter,  and  also  observe  that  I  am  aware  there  are  many  things  in 
it  which  the  world  would  condemn." 


VOL.  I.  D 


18  EARLY  CORRESPONDENCE. 


CHAP. 

1800-  To  John  Thornton,  Esq. 


Hodnet  Hall,  August  25,  1800. 

"  My  Dear  Thornton, 

"  Your  last  letter  was  full  of  the  worst  news  you  could 
have  sent  me.  I  am  very  sorry  to  hear  of  your  illness  ;  pray  write 
to  me  soon  to  tell  me  how  you  go  on ;  but  if  you  are  ill  don't 
hurry  yovu'self,  but  make  your  servant  send  me  a  line,  which  will 
be  a  great  comfort  to  me,  let  it  be  written  by  whom  it  may,  pro- 
vided it  brings  favourable  intelligence. 

"  I  am  sorry  that  you  are  edging  still  farther  off  from  my 
haunts ;  but,  however,  what  are  fifty  or  one  hundred  miles  to 
two  lads  with  affectionate  hearts  and  hardy  outsides  ?  Cambridge 
and  Oxford  have,  as  I  believe,  a  mail  running  between  them,  so 
that  at  College  we  are  only  a  few  hours'  drive  asunder.  Why  did 
you  ask  me  if  I  was  at  Tunbridge  ?  You  might  as  well  suppose  I 
was  at  Botany  Bay,  or  Terra  de  Jeso.  Tunbridge,  I  should  con- 
ceive, would,  in  the  present,  or  rather  late  hot  weather,  be  the 
death  of  any  thing  but  a  salamander,  a  cockney,  or  a  fine  lady. 
Quid  Romce  faciam  ?  Cardiri  nescio.  Vale  Royal  Abbey,  or  as 
it  is  generally,  or  at  least  frequently  called,  the  Vale  Royal  of 
Cheshire,  is  the  seat  of  our  relation,  Mr.  Cholmondeley,  which 
name  not  being  over  classical,  I  was  obliged  to  speak  elliptically. 
I  have  been  a  little  interrupted  in  my  Greek  by  two  things ;  first, 
the  examining  of  a  large  chest  full  of  old  family  writings,  which  I 
have  almost  got  through  ;  and,  secondly,  I  have  commenced  a  dili- 
gent reperusal  of  the  Old  Testament,  which  I  trust  I  shall,  Deo 
Juvante,  finish  before  I  go  to  Oxford.  In  the  course  of  last  week  I 
read  as  far  as  Ruth.  Excuse  the  irregularity  of  this  style  and  cha- 
racter of  mine,  for  the  illness  which  you  foretell  to  yourself  sticks 
in  my  throat,  and  confuses  a  head  which  is  never  one  of  the 
clearest." 


EARLY  CORRESPONDENCE.  19 


To  John  Thornton,  Esq. 

Neasdon,  August,  1800. 

"  You  will  think  me  very  impatient  when  I  again  write  to 
you ;  but  you  must  consider,  that  as  I  have  less  to  do  or  think  of 
than  you  have,  (though  I  fag  as  hard  as  Bristow's  time  will  allow,) 
I  am  the  more  eager  to  liear  from  you.  What  is  the  common 
opinion  in  your  neighbourhood  on  the  subject  of  the  harvest  ?  It 
is  a  point  which  so  much  concerns  the  whole  empire,  I  may  say  all 
Europe,  that  I  have  been  very  anxious  in  enquiring  every  where 
about  it,  and  general  reports  are,  I  think,  not  unfavourable  ;  though 
as  the  harvest  will  undoubtedly  be  a  late  one,  the  distress  for  a 
month  or  two  longer  will,  I  fear,  be  terrible.  It  was  a  shocking 
consideration,  which  I  had  an  opportunity  of  observing  when  in 
Yorkshire,  that  the  number  of  robberies  was  very  great,  no  less 
than  three  taking  place  in  the  neighbourhood  of  Harrogate  during 
my  stay  there,  and  that  food  alone  was  stolen.  For  instance,  an 
inn  there  was  broken  open,  but  all  that  was  taken  was  a  joint  or 
two  of  meat.  That  want  must  surely  be  dreadful,  which  would 
brave  the  gallows  to  obtain  a  single  meal.  I  have  no  news  to  tell 
you,  though  the  present  scene  of  politics  has  fairly  succeeded  in 
rousing  me  from  my  former  inattention,  and  I  am  as  eager  after  a 
newspaper  as  '  e'er  a  politician  of  them  all.' 

"  If  you  could  give  me  a  few  instructions  for  my  conduct  at 
first  going  to  College,  I  should  thank  you  ;  for  though  I  am  well 
provided  both  with  an  introducer  and  adviser  in  my  brother,  yet  I 
should  be  glad  to  hear  you  too  on  the  subject  ...  I  send  you  a 
sketch  of  a  building  which  I  passed  coming  from  the  north,  which 
will  interest  you  as  much  as  it  did  me  ;  I  could  almost  have  pulled 
off  my  hat  as  we  drove  by.  It  is  Sir  Isaac  Newton's  house  as  it 
appears  from  tlie  north  road.  Though  I  have  heard  it  taken  no- 
tice of,  I  never  saw  any  print  or  diawing  of  it.  You  may  perhaps 
think  it  worth  while  to  improve  upon  luy  sketch,  which,  though 
from  memory,  is,  I  believe,  accurate,  and  draw  it  yourself  on  a 

D   2 


(HAP. 

1. 

1300. 


20  EARLY  CORRESPONDENCE. 


CHAP,     large  scale,  as  I  hope  you  have  not  entirely  neglected  an  art  which 
you  used  to  make  a  figure  in  here." 


I. 

1800 


To  John  Thornton,  Esq. 

Hodnet  Hall,  Sept.  19,  1800. 

"  You  ask  nie  what  is  my  plan  of  operations  in  my  studies.  I 
am  afraid  that  I  have  of  late  a  good  deal  relaxed  from  my  former 
diligence,  and  my  advances  in  Homer  and  algebra  are  not  equal 
to  what  I  hoped.  I  have,  however,  not  totally  neglected  these ; 
and  I  have  got  on  fast  in  Guicciardini  and  Machiavel,  and  at  my 
spare  hours  have  read  one  half  of  Knolles'  History  of  the  Turks, 
which  you  know  Johnson  highly,  and  I  think  deservedly,  com- 
mends. I,  for  my  own  part,  have  never  met  with  a  greater  mass 
of  information,  or,  considering  the  time  when  it  was  written,  a 
more  pleasing  style.  If  ever  you  should  meet  with  it,  if  you  are  not 
daunted  with  a  thick  folio,  closely  printed,  you  can  scarcely  find  a 
more  agreeable  companion  for  those  hours  in  which  you  are  not 
employed  in  other  ways.  You  will  laugh  at  me  for  studying  Ma- 
chiavel, but  I  read  him  principally  for  the  sake  of  his  style;  though 
I  frankly  own  I  think  much  better  of  him  than  the  generality  of 
the  world  (who  probably  have  never  read  him)  profess  to  do. 

I  am  to  be  entered  at  Brazen  Nose  about  the  10th  of  October, 
and  am  to  reside  immediately,  though  entrance  keeps  a  term,  since 
I  do  not  want  to  waste  my  time  any  longer.  I  am  to  have  a  pri- 
vate tutor,  which  I  am  very  glad  of.  It  is,  I  believe,  principally  a 
contrivance  to  keep  me  out  of  drinking  parties,  and  to  give  me  the 
advantage  of  reading  to  another  person  instead  of  to  myself  Your 
observation  on  the  subject  of  mathematics  recalled  to  my  mind 
what  I  once  said  to  you  at  Neasdon,  and  in  which  you  agreed  with 
me,  that,  since  perfection  was  not  to  be  expected,  how  fortunate  it 
was  that,  of  the  two  greatest  universities  in  the  world,  the  one 
should  have  applied  its  principal  powers  to  those  sciences  which 
vEschylus  calls  apLcrroig,  and  the  other  should  have  followed  the  no 
less  necessary  or  splendid  pursuits  of  the  civil  law,  logic,  theology. 


EARLY  CORRESPONDENCE.  21 


and  the  classics.     I  assure  you,  however,  I  intend  to  pursue  ma-    tiiAi-. 
thematics  with  diligence.     Though  not  sufficiently  advanced  to      '"""• 
have  even  a  Pisgah  view  of  the  lands  of  Mathesis,  yet  the  fruits 
which  you  have  reaped  there  are  sufficient  to  stimulate  me  to  the 
conquest.     T'e  duce,  Ccesar. 

"  I  remain,  my  dear  friend, 

"  Your  obhged  and  affectionate, 

"  Reginald  Heber." 

To  John  Thornton,  Esq. 

Malpas,  1800. 

. ..."  I  am  well  pleased  to  find,  by  your  Hist.  Eccl.  Wellens,  these 
young  clergymen  so  well  cleared.  You  may  remember  what  my 
opinion  has  always  been  respecting  extempore  preaching ;  that  it  is, 
in  particular  cases,  not  only  a  legal,  but  even  a  laudable  practice  : 

and  you  have  clearly,  I  think,  made  out  that  Dr.  P 's  is  one 

of  those  cases.  The  interests  of  the  majority  ought  certainly  to 
be  preferred.  However,  in  a  matter  of  such  infinite  importance,  it 
were  greatly  to  be  wished  that  the  bigoted  minority  were  by  some 
means  or  other  '  pulled  out  of  the  fire.'  If  the  entreaties  of  the 
Church  will  not  avail,  might  not  its  censures  be  tried  ?  This,  you 
will  say,  is  high  Church  doctrine,  and  I  will  acknowledge  it  is  not 
very  conformable  to  the  tenets  of  philosophy,  but,  I  hope,  not 
altogether  repugnant  to  Christianity. 

"  Have  you  been  much  out  a  hunting  lately?  D.  seemed 
to  think,  I  remember,  that  Nimrod  was  a  mere  type  of  you,  and 
used  to  shake  his  wise  head  when  you  talked  of  a  leap.  He  had 
once  a  long  conversation  on  the  subject  with  me,  and  said  hunting 
encouraged  vice.  I  had  recourse  to  mythology,  and  told  him  the 
chaste  Hippolytus  was  a  hunter,  which  satisfied  him.  My  reason 
for  asking  you  if  you  are  keen  after  it  now,  is  because  I  conclude 
you  read  the  less  the  more  you  hunt,  so  that  I  may  have  more 
chance  of  overtaking  you  in  mathematics.     I  have  been  a  good 


>-2  EARLY  CORRESPONDENCE. 

( HAi'.    Jeal  employed  in  reading  the  dusty  volumes  of  the  old  polemic 
'"""■      writers,  which,  with  my  Italian,  leave  me  not  much  time  for  mathe- 
matics.    My  progress  in  algebra,  though  I  do  sometimes  play  at 
it,  has  been  exceedingly  trifling.     I  am  quite  ashamed  of  it. 

"  I  was  much  entertained  with  the  battle  of  the  Cloisters  .  . . ; 
your  retreat  was  certainly  tout  dfait  d  propos.  Your  courage  and 
conduct  in  this  lioly  war,  may  set  you  on  the  same  shelf  with 
Roland,  Astolfo,  or  even  Guy,  Earl  of  Warwick,  the  last  of  whom, 
since  he  conquered  an  ancestor  of  mine  (Colebrand,)  must  neces- 
sarily have  been  a  wonderful  hero." 

To  John  Thornton,  Esq. 

Ma /pas,  October,  1800. 

"  I  still  remain  here  though  term  is  begun,  and  I  shall  not,  I 
think,  go  to  Oxford  before  the  end  of  the  month.  My  brother  is  so 
kind  as  to  promise,  if  possible,  to  meet  me  there.  This  will  of  course 
be  much  more  agreeable,  though  I  have  already  been  introduced  to 
many  Brazen  Nose  men.  The  college  is  so  superabundantly  full 
that  rooms  are  no  where  to  be  procured.  I  am  much  amused  with 
the  preparations  I  see  making  for  furnishing  me  with  household  stuff, 
such  as  table-cloths,  sheets,  &c.  &c. ;  it  is  surely  a  luxurious  age  when 
a  boy  of  seventeen  requires  so  much  fuss  to  fit  him  out.  I  have  been 
a  much  gayer  fellow  than  usual  of  late,  having  been  at  a  race,  and 
also  at,  what  I  never  saw  before,  a  masquerade.  This  catalogue 
of  jaunts,  though  not  much  perhaps  for  a  girl,  has  been  a  great  deal 
for  me,  and  has  indeed  quite  satisfied  me.  If  these  things  are  so 
little  interesting  even  while  they  have  the  charm  of  novelty,  I 
think  I  shall  care  very  little  indeed  for  them  when  that  is  worn  off. 
The  masquerade  was  not  so  entertaining  as  I  expected.  There  cer- 
tainly were  some  characters  well  kept  up,  but  the  most  part  behaved 
exactly  as  if  they  were  barefaced.  It  was  given  by  Sir  W.  Williams 
Wynn,  and  though  certainly  much  inferior  in  splendour  to  Mr. 
Cholmondeley's  ball,  was  very  well  conducted.  Sat  de  nugis,  ad 
seria  reverto.     My  studies  go  on  as  usual.     Machiavel  I  rather 


EARLY  CORRESPONDENCE.  23 


admire  more  than  at  first.     My  Greek  studies  will  be  soon,  I  fear     *^"  ^f- 

I. 
gravelled,  if  I  continue  at  home,     INIy  brother  particularly  recom-      '««»■ 

mends  me  to  attend  the  public  lectures  on  astronomy  and  mathe- 
matics at  Oxford,  as  he  says,  they  are  at  present  very  clever. 

"  We  have  some  tumults  in  this  neighbourhood.  In  Stafford- 
shire the  mob  proceeded  to  domiciliary  visits  with  halters  and 
agreements,  forcing  the  farmers  to  the  alternative.  All  is  however 
quiet  at  present." 

To  John  Thornton,  Esq. 

Oxford,  Nov.  11,  1800. 

"  I  have  had  so  few  letters  from  my  friends  at  Neasdon, 
that  I  can  give  you  no  news  of  them.  .  .  .1  have  advised  them  to 
abstain  from  the  celebration  of  the  5th  of  November,  and  again 
pressed  the  Rumford  soup  plan,  which  I  wished  to  bring  about 
last  year ;  how  they  have  determined  I  know  not . ,  . 

"  I  am  very  glad  to  hear  you  are  settled  to  your  mind  at 
Cambridge.  My  experience  of  Oxford  has  been  so  short,  that  I 
am  no  very  competent  judge ;  but  the  little  I  have  seen  of  it  is 
certainly  what  would  give  me  a  very  favourable  opinion  of  Oxford 
in  general,  and  Brazen  Nose  in  particular.  I  have  got  through  all 
the  formalities  of  examination,  matriculation,  and  all  other  — ations 
that  are  necessary.  I  have  been  fortunate  in  being  able,  for  the 
present,  to  borrow  very  decent  rooms,  and  have  hopes  of  still 
better  for  my  own  next  term.  As  to  the  plan  of  my  studies  I 
really  know  as  yet  nothing  about  the  matter :  that  is  to  be  settled 
to-morrow.  My  father  and  mother  came  up  with  me  here,  and 
go  away  to-morrow.  I  was  in  great  hopes  that  my  brother  would 
have  been  able  to  meet  me,  and  stUl  expect  him  daily.  My  ac- 
quaintances lie  quite  differently  from  yours.  I,  indeed,  know 
several  of  the  fellows,  the  senior  proctor,  the  bishop',  &c.  but  they 
are  great  men  and  not  given  to  associate  with  freshmen  and  com- 
moners ;  so  that  I  believe  my  acquaintance  with  them  will  be  only 

'  Dr.  William  Cleaver,  Bishop  of  Chester,  Principal  of  Brasen  Nose. — Ed. 


•24  ENTRANCE  AT  COLLEGE. 

cHAi'.  bows.  Mr.  Hugh  Cholmondeley  '  indeed  has  been  very  kind  to 
'8«Q-  me,  and  has  taken  much  trouble  in  getting  me  settled  in  my  rooms, 
as  my  tutor  is  out  of  the  way.  To  him  I  owe  my  introduction 
to  the  few  acquaintance  I  have,  who  are  mostly  Cheshire  men.  The 
bishop  cautioned  me  very  strongly  against  too  numerous  an  ac- 
quaintance ;  it  is  a  thing  I  certainly  would  not  court.  I  am  almost 
entirely  without  books;  my  own  are  as  yet  at  Neasdon.  Mr. 
Cholmondeley  has,  however,  very  good  naturedly  offered  to  lend 

me  any  thing  I  want,  that  he  has  got  in  an  excellent  library I 

have  been  just  this  instant  most  agi'eeably  surprised  by  the  sudden 
arrival  of  my  brother  Richard.  He  only  staid  an  instant  and  set 
off  to  the  King's  Arms,  to  my  father  and  mother.  I  would  fain 
have  gone  with  him ;  but  it  is  past  nine  and  the  gates  are  shut." 

Reginald  Heber  was  entered  in  November,  1800,  at  Brazen 
Nose  College,  Oxford,  of  which  his  father  had  been,  his  elder  bro- 
ther was  then,  and  his  younger  brother  afterwards  became  a  fellow. 
As  his  education  had  been  private,  he  came  to  the  university  under 
the  disadvantage  of  having  an  entirely  new  acquaintance  to  form ; 
his  abilities  were  known  only  to  a  few,  but  his  talents  for  conver- 
sation and  literature  soon  introduced  him  to  a  circle  so  large  as 
to  endanger  the  future  career  of  a  man  of  meaner  aspirations,  or  who 
had  a  less  ardent  thirst  for  knowledge.  He  never  allowed  his 
hours  of  study  to  be  abridged  by  his  evening  parties,  but  would 
often  tie  a  wet  cloth  round  his  head  to  keep  off  the  approach  of 
sleep.  In  his  first  year  at  college  he  gained  the  university  prize 
for  Latin  verse,  by  his  "  Carmen  Seculare,"  a  poem  on  the  com- 
mencement of  the  new  century,  which  gave  that  bright  promise  of 
success  which  his  future  academical  career  so  well  fulfilled.  The 
extracts  which  follow  are  from  letters  written  during  the  early  part 
of  his  residence  at  Oxford. 

'  Subsequently  Dean  of  Chester. — Eu. 


ALL  SOULS  MALLARD  FEAST.  05 


CHAP. 

2o  Jolin  Thornton,  Esq.  1801. 


Oxford,  Jan.  15,  180 L 

"  I  am  very  much  obliged  to  you,  my  dear  friend,  for  your 
kind  invitation  to  Cambridge,  and  I  could  wish  it  were  in  my 
power  to  accept  it.  I  have,  however,  been  so  completely  engaged^ 
and  shall  continue  to  be  so,  that  an  absence,  however  short,  from 
college,  will  be  attended  with  considerable  difficulty  and  inconve- 
nience. Our  meeting  must  then  be  deferred  till  after  this  term, 
when  I  hope  we  shall  both  of  us  be  in  town. 

"  I  write  vmder  the  bondage  of  a  very  severe  cold,  which  I 
caught  by  getting  out  of  bed  at  four  in  the  morning,  to  see  the  cele- 
bration of  the  famous  All  Souls'  mallard  feast.  All  Souls  is  on 
the  opposite  side  of  Ratcliffe  square  to  Brazen  Nose,  so  that  their 
battlements  are  in  some  degree  commanded  by  my  garret.  I  had 
thus  a  full  view  of  the  Lord  Mallard  and  about  forty  fellows,  in 
a  kind  of  procession  on  the  library  roof,  with  immense  lighted 
torches,  which  had  a  singular  effect.  I  know  not  if  their  orgies 
were  overlooked  by  any  uninitiated  eyes  except  my  own  ;  but  I  am 
sure  that  all  who  had  the  gift  of  hearing,  within  half  a  mile,  must 
have  been  awakened  by  the  manner  in  which  they  thundered  their 
chorus,  '  O  by  the  blood  of  King  Edward.'  I  know  not  whether 
you  have  any  similar  strange  customs  in  Cambridge,  so  that,  perhaps, 
such  ceremonies  as  the  All  Souls'  mallard,  the  Queen's  boar's 
head,  &c.  will  strike  you  as  more  absurd  than  they  do  an  Oxford 
man  ;  but  I  own  I  am  of  opinion  that  these  remnants  of  Gothicism, 
tend  very  much  to  keep  us  in  a  sound  consistent  track ;  and  that 
one  cause  of  the  declension  of  the  foreign  universities,  was  their 
compliance,  in  such  points  as  these,  with  the  variation  of  manners. 

"  I  have  got  into  a  habit  of  tolerably  early  rising,  which  I 
intend  to  adhere  to ;  the  plan  is  that  another  man,  who  has  been 
my  companion  in  the  course  of  mathematics  which  I  have  gone 
through,  has  agreed  to  read  with  me  every  morning  from  six  till 
chapel,  by  which  scheme  we  gain  two  hours  of  the  best  part  of  the 
whole  day.     This  system  must,  however,  be  altered  when  chapel 

VOL.  I.  E 


-26  CORRESPONDENCE  AT  OXFORD. 


CHAP,    beffins  at  six,  which  it  does  in  summer.     I  do  not  find      Euclid  cle 

I.  ^ 

1801. 


-to' 


novo"  so  irksome  as  your  friend  used  to  think.  Though  mathe- 
matics will  never  be  the  great  rallying  point  of  my  studies,  I  should 
be  very  sorry  to  be  ignorant  of  them,  and  that  philosophy  which 
depends  on  them.  My  class-fellow  is  agreeable  and  remarkably 
clever  ;  though  only  sixteen,  his  acquirements  and  understanding 
are  inferior  to  few  in  the  college.  He  is  at  present  a  kind  of  tutor 
to  a  man  at  least  five  years  his  senior.  Some  traits  in  his  manner 
and  character  have,  I  sometimes  fancy,  an  imperfect  resemblance 
to  you  ;  and,  while  they  make  me  still  fonder  of  him,  serve  to  put  me 
in  mind  of  the  only  cause  I  have  to  regret  that  there  are  two  sepa- 
rate universities  in  England. 

"  Term  commences  next  Saturday,  or  at  least  the  men  come 
up  then,  as,  strictly  speaking,  it  began  yesterday." 

To  John  Thornton,  Esq. 

Oxford,  1801. 

"  Notwithstanding  the  miseries  of  fellowships  on  which  you 
descant,  I  should  like  very  well  to  have  one.  I  cannot,  indeed, 
conceive  how  an  excellent  society,  good  rooms,  and  the  finest 
situation  for  study  in  the  world,  can  have  that  effect  in  benumbing 
the  faculties  which  you  ascribe  to  it.  There  will,  no  doubt,  be 
many  illiberal  men  in  these  sort  of  societies  ;  but  I  fear  those  men 
would  have  been  still  less  gentlemen  than  they  are  at  present,  had 
it  not  been  for  the  advantages  of  a  college  society.  I  was  much 
entertained,  my  dear  friend,  with  the  account  you  gave  of  time 
passing  away  at  Cambridge.  '  The  beef  of  yesterday  is  succeeded 
by  the  mutton  of  to-day,'  are  your  words,  when  you  show  me  the 
manner  in  which  the  Cantabs  pass  their  time.  You,  indeed,  who 
are  clothed  in  purple  and  fare  sumptuously  every  day  at  the  fel- 
lows' table,  would  have  more  reason  to  reckon  by  meals  than  I 
should ;  for  the  dinners  we  get  here,  at  least  the  commoners,  (for 
the  gentlemen  commoners  have  a  table  to  themselves,  and  fare 
very  well,)  are  the  most  beastly  things  that  ever  graced  the  table 


CORRESPONDENCE  AT  OXFORD.  27 


of  a  poor-liouse  or  house  of  correction.  I  write  this  letter  in  a  f^"^' 
very  ill  humour  at  some  circumstances  I  happen  to  be  engaged  in,  "">'• 
which  are  as  follows : — It  is  thought  expedient  that,  as  I  princi- 
pally feel  myself  deficient  in  mathematics,  I  should  stay  in  Oxford 
during  this  next  vacation,  in_  order  to  go  through  a  course  of  lec- 
tures with  the  mathematical  professor.  This  is  certainly  very 
much  for  a  man's  interest,  but  it  will  be  very  dull,  I  fear,  as  few 
Brazen  Nose  men  with  whom  I  am  acquainted  will  stay.  If  you 
could  contrive  to  take  the  opportunity  of  this  vacation  at  once  to 
see  Oxford,  and  make  an  old  school-fellow  perfectly  happy  by  your 
company  for  a  day  or  two,  I  need  not  say  how  glad  I  should  be. 
If  you  conveniently  can,  pray  do  come.  '  Per  hoc  inane  j)U7-piir(e 
decus  precor.' 

"  I  have  fagged  pretty  hard  since  I  have  been  here,  on  a  per- 
fectly different  plan,  however,  from  my  Neasdon  studies.  I  was 
very  closely  engaged  last  w  eek  ^vith  a  copy  of  verses,  as  you  will 
believe,  when  I  tell  you  that  I  literally  had  no  time  to  shave,  inso- 
much that  my  beard  was  as  long  and  hoary  as  that  of  his  majesty 
the  erl  king.  I  succeeded  tolerably  well  in  my  verses,  and  had 
to  read  them  in  hall ;  the  most  nervous  ceremony  I  ever  went 
through. 

"  I  agree  with  you  on  the  subject  of  that  fabled  academical 
leisure.  We  are,  at  Cambridge  and  Oxford,  in  the  economy  of 
time,  perfect  Cartesians ;  we  admit  of  no  vacuum.  I  have  been, 
through  my  Cheshire  connexions  and  the  long  residence  of  my  bro- 
ther, introduced  to  a  great  many  people ;  and  this  has,  of  course, 
produced  very  numerous  parties,  but,  I  assure  you,  I  shall  pre- 
serve my  character  for  sobriety:  no  man  is  obliged  to  drink 
more  than  he  pleases,  nor  have  I  seen  any  of  that  spirit  of  playing 
tricks  on  freshmen  which  we  are  told  were  usual  forty  or  fifty 
years  ago  at  the  universities. 

"  Vale — si  possis,  veni. 

"  You  seem  not  much  to  like  the  concerts  at  Cambridge.     I 
very  much  approve  of  ours  here,  both  as  it  is  a  rational  scholar- 

E   2 


28  LINES  ON  ALCHEMY. 

CHAP,    like  amusement,  and  as  it  affords  a  retreat,  if  necessary,  from  the 
i8">»-      bottle." 


On  the  back  of  one  of  Reginald  Heber's  early  college  exer- 
cises is  written  the  following  fragment  on  alchemy. 

*  *  *  *  * 

So  fares  the  sage,  whose  mystic  labours  try 
The  thorny  paths  of  fabled  alchemy. 
Time,  toil,  and  prayer,  to  aid  the  work  conspire. 
And  the  keen  jaws  of  dross-devouring  lire. 
In  one  dim  pile  discordant  embers  blaze. 
And  stars  of  adverse  influence  join  their  rays ; 
Till  every  rite  perform'd,  and  labour  sped, 
When  the  clear  fmnace  dawns  with  sacred  red, 
From  forth  the  genial  warmth  and  teeming  mould, 
Tlie  bright-Mdnged  radiance  bursts  of  infant  gold. 

In  one  of  the  vacations  he  wrote  the  following  imitation  of  a 
song,  said  to  have  been  composed  by  Robert,  Duke  of  Normandy, 
during  his  confinement  in  Cardiff  Castle,  addressed  to  an  oak  which 
grew  in  an  ancient  encampment  within  sight  of  his  windows. 

Oak,  that  stately  and  alone 

On  the  war-worn  momid  hast  gro\^Ti, 

The  blood  of  man  thy  sapling  fed. 

And  dyed  thy  tender  root  in  red  ; 
Woe  to  the  feast  where  foes  combine, 
Woe  to  the  strife  of  words  and  wine ! 

Oak,  thou  hast  spnmg  for  many  a  year, 

'Mid  whisp'ring  rye-grass  tall  and  sear, 

The  coarse  rank  herb,  which  seems  to  show 

That  bones  unbless'd  are  laid  below  ; 
Woe  to  the  sword  that  hates  its  sheath, 
Woe  to  til'  unholy  trade  of  death  ! 

Oak,  from  the  momitain's  airy  brow 

Tliou  view'st  the  subject  woods  below. 

And  merchants  hail  the  well-known  tree. 

Returning  o'er  the  Severn  sea. 
Woe,  woe  to  him  whose  birth  is  high, 
For  peril  waits  on  royalty ! 


"  PALESTINE."  29 

Now  storms  have  bent  thee  to  the  gi-ound,  CHAP. 

And  envious  ivy  clips  thee  roimd  ;  jgQ3 

And  shepherd  hinds  in  wanton  play  ^ 

Have  stripped  thy  needfid  bark  away  ; 
Woe  to  the  man  whose  foes  ai'e  strong, 
Thrice  woe  to  him  who  lives  too  long  ! 


2'o  John  Thornton,  Esq. 


Oxford,  1803. 


"  My  Dear  Friend, 

**  I  believe  I  mentioned  in  my  last  letter  the  causes 
which  prevented  me  from  answering  your's  immediately.  I  was  at 
that  time  in  all  the  perplexity  of  forming  a  plan  for  a  long  poem, 
and  turning  over  the  bad  Latin  and  tedious  descriptions  of  Reland 
and  Cotoricus.  In  the  middle  of  this  pursuit,  I  was  interrupted 
by  a  very  severe  attack  of  the  influenza,  which,  though  it  perhaps 
tended  greatly  to  keeping  your  letter  in  my  thoughts,  incapaci- 
tated me  from  writing  at  all,  as  I  could  seldom  bear  to  sit  up,  my 
head  and  body  ached  so  nuich.  After  my  recovery  the  time  was 
so  short,  and  the  business  so  pressing,  that  you  will  not  wonder 
that  I  postponed  writing  to  you,  among  the  rest  of  the  pleasures 
which  I  gave  up,  till  I  should  have  completed  the  copy.  This 
was  accordingly  given  in  on  Monday  night.  I  know  not  whether 
I  told  you  in  my  last  that  it  is  a  sort  of  prize  extraordinary  for 
English  verses, — the  subject,  Palestine.  I  was  not  aware  till  yes- 
terday that  the  same  subject  had  been  some  time  since  given  for 
the  Seatonian  prize.  I  think  it  on  the  whole  a  fine  one,  as  it  will 
admit  of  much  fancy  and  many  sublime  ideas.  I  know  not  whether 
it  ought  to  have  been  made  exclusively  sacred  or  not.  Many  men 
whom  I  have  talked  with,  seem  inclined  to  have  made  it  so  ;  but 
I  have  an  utter  dislike  to  clothing  sacred  subjects  in  verse, 
unless  it  be  done  as  nearly  as  possible  in  Scriptural  language, 
and  introduced  with  great  delicacy.  I  could  not  refrain,  however, 
from  mentioning  and  rather  enlarging  on  the  Messiah  and  the  last  tri- 
umphs of  Judea.  The  historical  facts  of  Scripture,  I,  of  course,  made 
great  use  of,  as  well  as  of  the  crusades,  siege  of  Acre,  and  other 


30  RECITATION  OF  "  PALESTINE." 

CHAP,  pieces  of  modern  story.  My  brother,  my  tutor ',  and  Mr.  Walter 
1803.  Scott,  the  author  of  the  Border  Minstrelsy,  whom  I  have  no  doubt 
you  know  by  name,  if  not  personally,  give  me  strong  hopes,  and  I 
am,  on  the  other  hand,  I  hope,  pretty  well  prepared  for  a  disap- 
pointment. Whether  the  event  be  favourable  or  otherwise,  I  shall 
know  in  about  ten  days,  and  will  not  fail  to  communicate  my 
victory  or  defeat. 

"  I  am  so  much  agitated  about  the  news  of  war,  that  I  cannot 
help,  contrary  to  my  general  practice,  adverting  to  politics,  and 
congratulating  you  on  the  hopes  that,  as  good  springs  out  of  evil, 
this  public  confusion  may  terminate  by  cashiering  our  present 
ministry." 

It  was  in  the  spring  of  1803  that  Reginald  Heber  wrote 
*'  Palestine."  In  the  course  of  its  composition.  Sir  Walter  Scott 
happened  to  breakfast  with  him  one  morning,  together  with  his 
brother  and  one  or  two  friends,  previous  to  their  joining  a  party  of 
pleasure  to  Blenheim.  "  Palestine"  became  the  subject  of  con- 
versation, and  the  poem  was  produced  and  read.  Sir  Walter,  to 
whom  the  editor  is  indebted  for  the  anecdote,  said,  "  You  have 
omitted  one  striking  circumstance  in  your  account  of  the  building 
of  the  temple,  that  no  tools  were  used  in  its  erection."  Reginald 
retired  from  the  breakfast  table  to  a  corner  of  the  room,  and  before 
the  party  separated,  produced  the  beautiful  lines  which  now  form 
a  part  of  the  poem  ^  and  which  were  at  a  subsequent  period,  and 
alas !  on  a  far  different  occasion,  quoted  by  Sir  Charles  Edward 
Grey,  as  illustrative  of  the  manner  in  which  he  trusted  the  Church 
of  Asia  would  arise,  and  in  which  the  friend  he  then  mourned, 
was  so  admirably  qualified  to  foster  its  growth  ^  On  mounting  the 
rostrum  to  recite  his  poem,  Reginald  Heber  was  struck  by  seeing 
two  yovuig  ladies,  of  Jewish  extraction,  sitting  in  a  conspicuous 

'  The  Rev.  T.  S.  Smyth,  now  rector  of  St.  Austell,  Cornwall. 
"  No  hammer  fell,  no  ponderous  axes  rung, 
Like  some  tall  palm  the  mystic  fabric  sprung. 
Majestic  silence  ! 

^  Vide  Appendix,  for  Sir  C,  E.  Grey's  speech  at  Calcutta. 


RECITATION  OF  "  PALESTINE."  31 

part  of  the  theatre.     The  recollection  of  some  lines  which  reflect    ^hai'. 

.  .  I- 

severely  on  their  nation  flashed  across  his  mind,  and  he  resolved      isoa. 

to  spare  their  feelhigs  by  softening  the  passage  which  he  feared 
would  give  them  pain,  as  he  proceeded ;  but  it  was  impossible  to 
communicate  this  intention  to  his  brother,  who  was  sitting  behind 
him  as  prompter,  and  who,  on  the  attempt  being  made,  imme- 
diately checked  him,  so  that  he  was  forced  to  recite  the  lines  as 
they  were  originally  written. 

The  success  which  attended  this  prize  poem  has  been  un- 
paralleled in  its  class  ;  universally  read  at  the  time,  by  many  com- 
mitted to  memory,  it  has  retained  its  place  among  the  higher 
poetical  compositions  of  the  age ;  and  has  since  been  still  further 
immortalized  by  the  genius  of  Dr.  Crotch,  musical  professor  in 
Oxford '.  The  effect  which  its  recitation  m  the  theatre  produced 
was  affectingly  commemorated  by  Sir  Charles  E.  Grey,  in  the  speech 
already  referred  to,  and  is  thus  recorded  by  an  eloquent  contem- 
porary, writing  at  the  interval  of  twenty-four  years  ^ 

"  None  who  heard  Reginald  Heber  recite  his  '  Palestine'  in  that 
magnificent  theatre,  will  ever  forget  his  appearance — so  interesting 
and  impressive.  It  was  known  that  his  old  father  was  somewhere 
sitting  among  the  crowded  audience,  when  his  universally  admired 
son  ascended  the  rostrum ;  and  we  have  heard  that  the  sudden 
thunder  of  applause  which  then  arose  so  shook  his  frame,  weak 
and  wasted  by  long  illness,  that  he  never  recovered  it,  and  may  be 
said  to  have  died  of  the  joy  dearest  to  a  parent's  hearth     Reginald 

'  It  has  also  been  translated  into  Welch  by  Dr.  Owen  Pugh ;  who  had,  previously,  trans- 
lated the  Paradise  Lost  into  the  same  language. 

'  Blackwood's  Edinburgh  Magazine  for  November,  1827. 

'  There  is  no  truth  in  this  story ;  but  an  errour  cannot  be  regretted  which  has  given 
occasion  to  the  following  lines,  by  Miss  Jermyn,  published  in  one  of  the  Annuals  for  1829. 

ON  THE  RECITATION  OF  PALESTINE. 

Hush'd  was  the  busy  hum ;  nor  voice  nor  sound 

Through  the  vast  concourse,  mark'd  the  moment  near  ; 
A  deep  and  holy  silence  breath 'd  around, 

And  mute  attention  fix'd  the  list'ning  ear  : 

7 


32  RECITATION  OF  «  PALESTINE." 

CHAP  Heber's  recitation,  like  that  of  all  poets  whom  we  have  heard 
's"3.  recite,  was  altogether  untrammelled  by  the  critical  laws  of  elocu- 
tion, which  were  not  set  at  defiance,  but  either  by  the  poet 
unknown  or  forgotten ;  and  there  was  a  charm  in  his  somewhat 
melancholy  voice,  that  occasionally  faltered,  less  from  a  feeling  of 
the  solemnity  and  even  grandeur  of  the  scene,  of  which  he  was 
himself  the  conspicuous  object — though  that  feeling  did  suffuse 
his  pale,  ingenuous,  and  animated  countenance — than  from  the 
deeply  felt  sanctity  of  his  subject,  comprehending  the  most  awful 
mysteries  of  God's  revelations  to  man.  As  his  voice  grew  bolder 
and  more  sonorous  in  the  hush,  the  audience  felt  that  this  was  not 
the  mere  display  of  the  skill  and  ingenuity  of  a  clever  youth,  the 

When  from  the  rostrum  burst  the  hallow'd  strain, 

And  Heber,  kindling  with  poetic  fire, 
Stood  'mid  the  gazing  and  expectant  train, 

And  woke  to  eloquence  his  sacred  lyre. 

The  youthful  student,  with  emphatic  tone, 

(His  lofty  subject  on  his  mind  impress'd,) 
With  grace  and  energy  unrivall'd  shone, 

And  roused  devotion  in  each  thoughtless  breast. 

He  sang  of  Palestine — that  holy  land. 

Where  saints  and  martyrs,  and  the  warrior  brave. 
The  cross  in  triumph  planting  on  its  strand, 

Beneath  its  banners  sought  a  glorious  grave. 

He  sang  of  Calvary,  of  his  Saviour  sang, 
Of  the  rich  mercies  of  redeeming  love  ; 
When  through  the  crowd  spontaneous  plaudits  rang, 
Breathing  a  foretaste  of  rewards  above. 

What  means  that  stifled  sob,  that  groan  of  joy  ? 

Why  fall  tliose  tears  upon  the  furrow'd  cheek  ? 
The  aged  father  hears  his  darling  boy, 

And  sobs  and  tears  alone  his  feelings  speak. 

From  his  full  heart  the  tide  of  rapture  flows ; 

In  vain  to  stem  its  rapid  course  he  tries  ; 
He  hears  the  applauding  shouts,  the  solemn  close, 

And,  sinking  from  excess  of  joy,  he  dies ! 


RECITATION  OF  "  PALESTINE."  33 

accidental  triumph  of  an  accomplished  versifier  over  his  compeers,  chap 
in  the  dexterity  of  scholarship,  which  is  all  that  can  generally  be  '»"» 
truly  said  of  such  exhibitions, — but  that  here  was  a  poet  indeed,  not 
only  of  bright  promise,  but  of  high  atchievement, — one  whose  name 
was  already  written  in  the  roll  of  the  immortals.  And  that  feeling, 
whatever  might  have  been  the  share  of  the  boundless  enthusiasm, 
•with  which  the  poem  was  listened  to,  attributable  to  the  influence 
of  the  '  genius  loci,'  has  been  since  sanctioned  by  the  judgment 
of  the  world  that  has  placed  '  Palestine '  at  the  very  head  of  the 
poetry  on  divine  subjects  of  this  age.  It  is  now  incorporated  for 
ever  wuth  the  poetry  of  England." 

When  Reginald  Heber  returned  from  the  theatre,  surrounded 
by  his  friends,  with  every  hand  stretched  out  to  congratulate,  and 
every  voice  raised  to  praise  him,  he  withdrew  from  the  circle ;  and 
his  mother,  who,  impatient  of  his  absence,  went  to  look  for  him, 
found  him  in  his  room  on  his  knees,  giving  thanks  to  God,  not  so 
much  for  the  talents  which  had,  on  that  day,  raised  him  to  honour, 
but  that  those  talents  had  enabled  him  to  bestow  unmixed  happiness 
on  his  parents.  It  is  easy  to  conjecture  what,  with  these  feelings 
of  piety  and  filial  affection,  must  have  been  the  tone  of  the  letter 
written  on  this  occasion  to  ]Mr.  Thornton,  and  yet  it  is  impossible 
not  to  regret  its  accidental  loss.  Had  he  possessed  a  mind 
less  fortified  by  Christian  humility,  the  praises  which  were  now 
showered  on  him  might  have  produced  dangerous  effects ;  but  the 
tone  of  his  character  never  varied ;  at  college  and  through  life, 
though  distinguished  by  great  cheerfulness  and  buoyancy  of  spirits^ 
he  retained  that  sobriety  of  mind  which  had  marked  his  childhood, 
and  he  attracted  not  only  the  admiration,  but  the  love  of  his  con- 
temporaries ;  for,  besides  that  great  supei'iority  seems  to  be  almost 
out  of  the  reach  of  envy,  his  talents  were  accompanied  with  so 
much  modesty  and  kindness,  that  the  laurels  which  he  won  could 
not  be  viewed  with  jealousy,  even  by  those  whose  exertions  in 
the  same  race  had  failed  of  success. 

Reginald  Heber  was  always  remarkable  for  the  purity  of  his 
ideas,  and  early  in  life  he  was  known  hastily  to  close  a  book  from 

VOL,  I.  F 


34  "  HONOUR  ITS  OWN  REWARD." 

CHAP,  something  meeting  his  eye  which  his  heart  shunned.  One  who 
i»o3-  knew  him  well,  and  had  been  his  companion  in  his  gayest  and 
most  unreserved  hours,  used  to  say,  "  that  if  his  heart  had  no  other 
covering  than  a  glass,  its  thoughts  were  so  pure,  no  one  need  fear  to 
read  them."  And  his  conversation  evinced  the  delicacy  of  his  mind. 
His  innocent  gaiety,  and  his  inexhaustible  fund  of  anecdote, 
the  information  on  almost  every  subject  which  his  extensive  read- 
ing and  his  memory  enabled  him  to  bring  forward,  made  him  the 
pride  of  his  family,  the  delight  of  his  acquaintance,  and  the  pat- 
tern by  which  his  younger  friends  strove  to  form  themselves. 

On  his  return  to  Malpas  in  1803  for  the  long  vacation,  Regi- 
nald Heber  found  the  neighbourhood  engaged  in  forming  volun- 
teer corps  to  repel  the  threatened  invasion.  At  the  request  of  a 
neighbour  and  friend  of  his  father's,  Mr.  Dod,  of  Edge,  who  had 
just  raised  a  body  of  infantry,  he  wrote,  when  sitting  round  the 
tea-table  in  the  evening  with  his  family,  the  following  stanzas,  to 
be  sung  at  the  meeting  of  the  corps  the  following  morning. 


HONOUR  ITS  OWN  REWARD. 

Swell,  swell  the  shrill  trumpet  clear  sounding  afar, 

Our  sabres  flash  splendour  around. 
For  freedom  has  summon'd  her  sons  to  the  war, 

Nor  Biitain  has  slimnk  from  the  sound. 

Let  plunder's  vile  thirst  the  invaders  inflame, 

Let  slaves  for  their  wages  be  bold, 
Shall  valour  the  haiTest  of  avarice  claim  ? 

Shall  Britons  be  barter'd  for  gold .? 

No  !  free  be  oiu-  aid,  independent  oiu-  might, 

Proud  honour  our  guerdon  alone ; 
Unhired  be  the  hand  we  raise  in  the  fight, 

The  sword  that  we  brandish  our  own. 

Still  all  that  we  love  to  our  thoughts  shall  succeed, 
Tlieir  image  each  labour  shall  cheer. 

For  them  we  will  conquer— for  them  we  will  bleed, 
And  our  pay  be  a  smile  or  a  tear  ! 


I. 

1803 


VOLUNTEER  CORPS.  35 

Autl  oh  !  if  ictuniing  triumphant  we  move,  CHAP. 

Or  sink  on  the  land  that  we  save, 
Oh  !  blest  by  his  countiy,  his  kindred,  his  love, 

IIow  vast  the  reward  of  the  brave ! 


To  John  Thornton,  Esq. 

1803. 
"  Palestine  I  have  not  published ;  but  if  you  will  accept  a 
copy,  I  have  desired  my  brother  to  leave  it  in  St.  James's  Square. 
I  hope  your  military  career  is  prosperous.  I  have  myself  been 
pretty  similarly  employed,  together  with  Heber,  who  has  had  great 
success  in  raising  a  corps  of  infantry  on  my  father's  estate.  All 
here  are  furiously  loyal,  and  my  brother  has  found  more  difficulty 
in  rejecting  than  in  soliciting.  I  do  not  apprehend  that  our  ser- 
vices will  be  wanted,  though,  as  Liverpool  is  an  expected  point  of 
attack,  we  may  in  that  case  become  really  useful. 

The  Shropshire  volunteers  are,  in  case  of  necessity,  to  be  united 
into  a  legion,  connnanded  by  INIr.  Kynaston  Powell,  the  member 
for  the  county.  You  give  me  a  full  account  of  your  military  pro- 
ceedings, but  not  a  word  of  your  academical.  Pray  do  not  utterly 
throw  aside  the  gown  for  the  sabre  ;  I  intend  to  try  whether  they 
are  not  very  compatible,  as  I  fag  and  drill  by  turns.  My  brother 
talks  of  running  me  for  the  honours  next  year.  I  own  I  am  un- 
willing, but  he  is  urgent,  and  I  must  work  hard.  I  have  lately 
seen  some  very  interesting  and  melancholy  letters  from  Ireland ; 
the  last  written  under  such  apprehensions  that  no  name  was 
signed.  They  give  every  man  reason,  I  think,  to  be  thankful  to 
Providence,  and  to  be  very  angry  with  the  ministry,  who  seem 
to  have  neglected  the  most  evident  and  notorious  reasons  for 
precaution.  A  powder  magazine  belonging  to  the  rebels  had 
blown  up  and  many  arms  been  found,  above  a  week  before  that 
attack  which  found  the  ministry  so  unprepared,  that  the  rebels 
were  within  a  street  of  the  undefended  castle  before  any  troops 

were  opposed  to  them.     So  much  for  the  man  whom  Mr. 

declares  above  all  praise !" 

F    2 


36  DEATH  OF  MR.  HEBER. 

CHAP.  The  following  year,  1804,  Reginald  Heber  sustained  the  hea- 

18"^-  viest  affliction  which  an  affectionate  son  is  called  on  to  endure. 
The  death  of  his  excellent  father,  in  his  seventy-sixth  year,  is  thus 
related  to  Mr.  Thornton  : 

Malpas,  Feb.  22, 1804. 

"  Dear  Thornton, 

"  Thank  you  heartily  for  your  friendly  condolence ; 
indeed  we  have  stood  in  need  of  comfort,  as  so  grievous  a  depri- 
vation must  bear  heavy  on  us,  though  the  manner  in  which  my 
father  was  taken  away  was  most  merciful  both  to  himself  and  to 
us.  May  we  die  the  death  of  the  righteous  !  It  was  an  event  he 
had  long  looked  forward  to,  and  held  himself  in  readiness  to  meet. 
It  seems  but  yesterday,  though  eight  months  have  since  elapsed, 
that  he  came  to  the  Act  at  Oxford  with  all  the  sprightliness  and 
mental  vigour  of  youth,  as  gay  and,  to  all  appearance,  as  healthy 
as  his  children.  Yet,  I  believe  it  was  about  this  time  he  perceived 
in  himself  some  symptoms  which  he  considered  as  a  warning  to 
trim  his  lamp  and  be  prepared.  Alas !  in  a  month  after  we 
returned  to  Hodnet  these  symptoms  grew  more  serious.  Dr. 
Currie  quieted  our  apprehensions,  in  some  degree,  by  explaining 
the  nature  of  his  disorder,  and  assuring  us  that  old  age  had 
nothing  to  do  with  it.  My  father's  opinion  remained,  how- 
ever, unchanged;  he  went  through  a  long  course  of  medicines, 
I  think,  principally  for  our  sakes,  and  from  a  sense  of  duty, 
for  he  often  said  all  was  in  vain.  Much  of  his  time  was  past  in 
private  prayer  and  reading  the  Scriptures  :  among  his  friends,  his 
spu'its  were  as  even  and  his  conversation  as  cheerful  as  ever.  He 
often  exhorted  us  to  be  prepared  for  his  loss,  and  reminded  us  of 
the  hope  which  he  had  in  our  Saviour.  The  skilfull  treatment  of 
his  physician,  joined  to  his  own  excellent  constitution,  seemed  at 
length  to  have  completely  conquered  the  complaint,  and  removed 
the  fears  of  all  but  my  mother,  who,  as  she  saw  more,  apprehended 
more  from  his  declining  strength  and  appetite.  In  his  letters  to  me 
at  Oxford  he  mentioned  slightly,  that  though  his  disorder  was  gone. 


DEATH  OF  MR.  HEBER.  37 

his  strenffth  did  not  return  ;    but  I  considered  this  as  the  natural     (  hap. 
consequence  of  liis  confinement,  and  ho})ed  that  spring  would  set  all      i""-*- 
right.    At  last  I  received  a  dreadful  summons  to  return  here  imme- 
diately.    He  had  suffered  a  relapse,  accompanied  with  a  painful 
and  terrifying  hysteric  hiccough.     His  days  were  without  ease  and 
his  nights  without  sleep ;  his  mind  remained  the  same,  blessing 
God  for  every  little  interval  of  pain,  and  delighting  to  recount  the 
mercies  he  had  experienced,  and  to  give  his  children  comfort  aiid 
advice.     These  conversations,  which  were  much  more  frequent 
than  his  strength  could  well  bear,  I  trust  in  God   I  shall  never 
forget.     Our  hopes  in  the  mean  time  were  buoyed  up  by  many 
fair  appearances,   and    by  the  gradual  diminution  of  his  pains  ; 
but  we  could  not  long  deceive  ourselves.     When  at  length  all 
hopes  were  over,  we  knelt  around  his  bed,  his  wife  and  all  his 
children  ;  he  blessed  us,  and  over  and  over  again  raised  his  feeble 
voice  to  bid  us  be  Christians  and  to  hold  fast  our  faith  ;  he  spoke 
of  the  world  as  a  '  den  of  wild  beasts,'  that  he  rejoiced  to  leave, 
and   prayed  God   to  guard  us  in   our  journey  through  it.     My 
mother  was  quite  overwhelmed  with  grief  and  fatigue,  having  for 
six  weeks  never  taken  off  her  clothes.     He  chid  her  gently  for 
sorrowing  as  without  hope,  and  talked  much  of  the  Divine  Rock  on 
which  his  hope  was  founded.     The  next  morning  he  expressed  a 
wish  to  receive  the  Sacrament,  and  bade  me,   in  the  mean  time, 
read  the  prayer  in  our  liturgy  for  a  person  at  the  point  of  death. 
I,  through  my  tears,  made  a  blunder  which  he  corrected  me  in 
from  memory.     He  now  expressed  some  impatience  for  the  Sacra- 
ment, saying  he  '  hoped  not  to  be  detained  long.'     Mr.  Bridge  ' 
arrived,  and  we  all  together  partook  of  the  most  solemn  communi- 
on that  we  can  ever  expect  to  join  in  in  this  world,  to  which,  indeed, 
my  father  seemed  scarcely  to  belong.     A  smile  sate  on  his  pale 
countenance,  and  his  eyes  sparkled  brighter  than  I  ever  saw  them. 
From  this  time  he  spoke  but  little,  his  lips  moved,  and  his  eyes 
were  raised  upwards.     He  blessed  us  again ;  we  kissed  him  and 

'  Mr.  Heber's  Curate  at  Malpas. — Ed. 


38  DEATH  OF  MR.  HEBER. 

cHAi'     found  his  lips  and  cheeks  cold  and  breathless.     O  Thornton,  may 
i»Q^-      you  (after  many  years)  feel  as  we  did  then  ! 

"  I  have  been  two  days  writing  this  letter,  for  I  have  been 
often  obliged  to  break  off.  There  are  few  people  to  whom  I 
would  have  ventured  to  say  so  much,  but  to  a  real  friend,  as  I 
think  you,  it  is  pleasant  to  open  one's  mind. 

"  I  return  to  Oxford  in  the  course  of  next  week ;  my  mother 
and  sister  go  to  Hodnet,  to  which  my  brother  has,  with  the  kind- 
ness and  affection  which  he  has  always  shown,  invited  us  as  to 
a  home." 

To  John  Thornton,  Esq. 

Oxford,  April  23,  1804. 

"  I  would  have  answered  your  letter  long  since,  had  I  not 
been  really  very  seriously  occupied,  as  my  examination  is  to  come 
on,  I  believe,  in  a  few  days.     I  have  given  up  all  idea  of  standing 
for  honours,  as  my  mathematical  and,  indeed,  my  other  studies 
have  been  interrupted  this  spring  by,  alas  !  too  good  a  reason.     In 
fact,  to  pass  a  tolerable  examination,  even  in  the  most  ordinary 
way,  is  by  no  means  a  trifling  exertion.     Perhaps,  too,  my  ardour 
for  academical  distinction  is  a  little  cooled.     My  examination  will 
be  precipitated  much  sooner  than  I  could  wish,  from  a  necessity  of 
joining  the  corps  I  belong  to,  which  is  going  out  on  permanent 
duty  the  tenth  of  next  month.     I  am  sorry  to  find  you  have  not 
persevered  in  your  idea  of  passing  a  short  time  at  Oxford.     The 
Michaelmas  term  I   shall,  I  think,  be  resident,  and  it  would  of 
course  make  Oxford  very  delightful  to  me  to  have  your  society.     I 
have  been  here  the  whole  of  the  Easter  vacation,  fagging,  some- 
times, rather  hard,  though  never  so  much  as  I  ought  to  do.    I  have, 
however,  during  this  time  made  myself  pretty  well  master  of  Aris- 
totle's ethics  and  rhetoric,  and  have  gone  through  a  good  deal  of 
iEschylus.     Logic,  alas !  and  mathematics  sleep  very  quietly,  and 
as  a  little  of  both  is  necessary,  I  believe  I  must  trust  to  my  memory 
for  doing  justice  to  some  lectures  I  attended  when  a  freshman. 
God  bless  you,  my  dear  friend  !" 


ELECTION  TO  ALL  SOULS  COLLEGE.  39 

On  the  2nd  of  November,  1804,  Reginald  Heber  was  elected     chap. 
a  Fellow  of  All  Souls  ;  which  event  he  announces  to  his  friend  in      >804. 
his  next  letter. 

To  John  Thornton,  Esq. 

1804. 

"  Dear  Thornton, 

"  After  much  deliberation  concerning  which  of  the 
two  societies  for  Promoting  Christian  Knowledge  I  shovdd  sub- 
scribe to,  I  have  at  length  determined  upon  both  ;  you  will  there- 
fore oblige  me  if  you  will  put  down  the  enclosed  under  the 
signature  of  O.  A.,  to  the  fund  of  the  Bible  Society.  I  would  not 
trouble  you  in  this  if  I  had  not  lost  the  paper  you  were  so  good  as 
to  send  me,  so  that  I  do  not  recollect  the  proper  direction.  I 
have  in  one  or  two  instances  beat  up  for  recruits  to  the  institution, 
but  do  not  know  whether  successfully  or  not.  I  am  strongly 
convinced  that  the  union  of  the  Bible  Society  with  either  of  the 
former  ones,  would  be  productive  of  very  good  effects ;  if  all 
three  were  united  it  would  be  best  of  all. 

"  I  know  your  friendship  is  interested  in  every  fortunate 
event  which  can  befall  me,  and  that  you  will  hear  with  pleasure 
chat  I  am  become  a  fellow  of  All  Souls.  I  even  now  begin  to  find 
the  comfort  of  my  new  situation,  which  is,  for  any  young  man, 
particularly  if  he  reads  at  all,  certainly  most  enviable.  I  am  now 
become,  for  the  present,  almost  settled  in  Oxford,  and  a  visit  from 
you  would  make  me  quite,  what  I  am  already  almost,  the  haj^piest 
fellow  in  England. 

"  I  have,  according  to  your  recommendation,  read  Lord 
Teignmouth's  '  Sir  William  Jones,'  which  pleases  me  very  much, 
and  is,  I  think,  though  rather  lengthy  (as  the  Americans  say)  an 
interesting  and  well  done  thing.  As  to  my  admiration  of  Sir 
W.  Jones,  it  is  rather  increased  than  diminished,  by  seeing  the 
tackle  and  component  parts  of  which  so  mighty  a  genius  was 
formed ;  and  his  system  of  study  is  instructive  as  well  as  won- 
derful.    It   has    excited  much  interest   in  Oxford,  where  he  is 


40  EXAMINATION. 

CHAP,    still  remembered   with   admiration   and  affection   by  the   senior 

'""-*•      men. 

.  .  .  .  "  Talking  about  fagging,  I  have  been  rather  fagging  lately, 
though  not  near  so  much  as  I  ought  to  have  done  after  a  long  vaca- 
tion of  military  idleness, — idleness  at  least  with  respect  to  the  main 
pursuits  of  my  life.  My  examination  will,  I  believe,  come  on  in  a 
very  few  days ;  I  have,  indeed,  sent  in  my  name  nearly  a  month 
ago,  and  have  been  during  that  whole  time  in  the  pleasure  of  sus- 
pense. Any  serious  plan  of  study,  when  a  man  expects  every  day 
a  summons  to  the  schools,  would  be  impossible.  I  have  been  trying 
my  hand  at  logic,  but  soon  threw  it  down  in  absolute  disgust ;  the 
barbarous  terms,  the  ridiculous  methods  of  conveying  information, 
and  the  lumber  with  which  every  thing  is  crowded  and  blocked  up, 
are  quite  too  much  for  me.  I  shall,  perhaps,  some  time  or  other, 
attack  the  Organon  itself,  as  possibly  Aristotle  is  not  answerable 
for  the  stuff  of  his  commentators  and  followers ;  but  for  this 
examination  I  shall  certainly  not  take  up  logic.  After  my  degree 
is  well  got  over,  there  will  be  three  good  years  for  divinity,  to 
which  I  intend  to  give  a  steady  application,  though  no  application 
or  labour  can  be  steady  enough  for  the  importance  and  interest  of 
the  subject.  My  brother  is  in  Westminster,  where  business  of 
my  avmts'  has  long  kept  him  pretty  closely  ;  he  is  their  comfort 
and  support  under  affliction  and  sickness,  and  they  cannot  spare 

him. 

"  Believe  me,  dear  friend, 

"  Your  obliged  and  affectionate, 

"  Reginald  Heber." 

The  editor  will  be  forgiven  for  closing  this  part  of  her  husband's 
academical  life  in  the  words  of  the  same  author  from  whom  she 
has  before  quoted.  "  His  university  career  was  equally  splendid  to 
its  close.  In  the  schools  his  examination  for  his  bachelor's  degree, 
although  not  so  much  distinguished  as  that  of  many  others,  for 
accurate  remembrances  of  the  manifold  divisions  and  subtleties  of 
Aristotle's  philosophical  works,  by  the  solution  of  syllogisms  out 


«  SENSE  OF  HONOUR."  41 

of  Aidrich's  logic,  or  of  mathematical  problems,  was  brilliant  in  chap. 
the  oratory  and  poetry  of  Greece.  But  his  reputation  was  then  so  1804. 
great  and  high,  that  no  public  exhibition  of  that  kind  could 
increase  or  raise  it.  Some  men  enter  the  schools  obscure  and 
come  out  bright ;  others  enter  bright  and  come  out  obscure  ;  but 
Reginald  Heber  was  a  star  whose  lustre  was  as  steady  as  it  was 
clear,  and  would  neither  suffer  temporary  eclipse,  nor  '  draw  golden 
light'  from  any  other  source  of  honour  within  the  walls  of  a  univer- 
sity. The  year  after  he  had  taken  his  degree,  he,  almost  of  course, 
gained  the  university's  bachelor's  prize  for  the  English  prose  essay. 
The  subject  was  well  suited  to  his  peculiar  powers,  and  the  *  Sense 
of  Honour'  found  in  him  a  temperate  and  charitable  Christian  ad- 
vocate, who  vindicated  its  high  character  as  a  great  principle  of 
morality,  but  showed  its  necessary  subjection  to  conscience  and 
religion." 


VOL.  I. 


II 


CHAPTER    II. 


TO    STRUND. 


Departure  from  England — Gottenhurg — Swedish  soldiers — Mode  of  travelling — 
Hede — Trollhiitta — Falls  on  the  Gotha — Swedish  peasantry — Price  of  labour — 
Uderalla  —  Friderickshall  —  Mr.  Anker —  Wolf-hunting — Mr.  Rosencrantz — 
Cascade  on  the  Glomm — Population  of  Norway — Lake  of  Dillingen — Noeck, 
the  kelpie  of  Norway — Christiania — Mr.  Collet — Oesterval  peasants — Fort — 
Cathedral — Alum  works — Militia — Hedermarken — Lake  Mios — Storhammer — 
St.  Olave — Norwegian  superstitions — Men  of  Gulbraiisdal — Colonel  Sinclair — 
Dovre — Driostuen — Wolves — Lemings — Trondheim — Cathedral — Munkholm — 
Library — Rijle  corps  on  skates — l^eer  Fossen — Roraas  copper  mines — Finns — 
Productions  of  Norway. 

CHAP.     Towards  the  middle  of  the  year  1805,  Reginald  Heber  accom- 


1805-  panied  Mr.  John  Thornton  on  a  tour  to  the  north  of  Europe, 
which  was  extended  through  Russia,  the  Crimea,  Hungary,  Austria, 
Prussia,  and  Germany;  the  rest  of  the  continent  being  at  that 
time  closed  by  war  against  travellers.  His  friends  were  glad  to 
seize  this  opportunity  of  removing  him  from  the  effects  of  that 
admiration  which  his  talents  excited,  and  which  they  apprehended 
might,  in  time,  injure  the  beautiful  simplicity  of  his  mind ;  an 
apprehension  which,  though  natural,  experience  has  proved  to 
have  been  unfounded. 

His  correspondence  with  his  family  during  this  tour,  as  well 
as  the  journals  which  he  kept  through  the  greater  part  of  it,  will 
be  given  in  the  following  pages. 


DEPARTURE  FROM  ENGLAND.  43 

To  Mrs.  Heber. 


CHAP. 

11. 

1805. 


Gottenburg,  August  \,  1805. 
"  Dear  Mother, 

"  The  uncommon  beauty  of  the  weather  Avould,  I 
hope,  entirely  quiet  all  your  apprehensions  respecting  our  voyage 
to  this  place,  where  we  arrived  yesterday  morning.  About  two 
hours  after  I  had  finished  my  last  letter  we  got  on  board  the 
packet,  a  small  black  looking  sloop,  very  little  larger  than  the  fish- 
ing smacks  on  the  Parkgate  shore.  We  found,  however,  a 
tolerably  large  and  neat,  though  not  fragrant,  cabin,  in  which,  as 
we  were  the  only  passengers,  we  had  plenty  of  room  and  the  choice 
of  beds.  We  were,  however,  in  such  spirits  with  the  fresh  sea  breeze 
that  we  had  little  inclination  to  quit  the  deck,  and  staid  up  till  past 
midnight  enjoying  the  novelty  of  our  situation.  A  strong  gale  and 
the  short  pitching  waves  of  the  north  sea,  however,  kept  us  in  our 
beds  the  whole  of  the  next  day.  Sea-sickness  has,  I  think,  been 
rather  exaggerated ;  bad  as  it  certainly  is  while  you  stay  on  deck, 
yet,  when  laid  down  and  out  of  sight  of  the  cause,  I  found  sleeping 
a  sure  and  almost  immediate  remedy.  The  weather  from  this 
time  was  very  delightful,  though  the  wind  was  rather  unfavourable ; 
we  caught  fish,  walked  the  deck,  studied  Swedish,  and  learnt  how 
to  take  an  observation.  We  fell  in  with  the  Scout,  armed  vessel, 
whose  appearance  at  first  rather  alarmed  our  captain,  as  she  did  not 
answer  our  signals.  He  was  a  man  of  but  few  words,  but  muttered 
a  good  deal,  scratched  his  head,  and  with  a  very  long  face  brought 
the  mail  on  deck,  with  an  old  rusty  swivel  tied  to  it,  that  it  might 
be  thrown  overboard  in  case  of  danger.  Our  uncertainty  was 
however  soon  removed  by  her  hailing  us,  and  we  enjoyed  the 
benefit  of  her  convoy  as  far  as  the  Naze ;  she  had  been  sent  out  on 
a  false  report  of  three  French  privateers  in  the  Cattegat. 

"  On  Sunday  we  came  in  sight  of  the  tall  blue  mountains  of 
Norway,  stretching  along  our  northern  horizon,  a  rocky  and  almost 
perpendicular  coast,  with  many  fishing  vessels  under  it,  and  above 
these  some  pointed  Alpine  hills  rising  to  a  great  height.     Having 

G  2 


44  GOTTENBURG, 

CHAP,  left  them  behind  us  to  the  west,  we  saw  next  day  the  Swedish 
'^"5.  coast,  hkewise  rocky,  though  much  less  striking  than  our  first 
prospect.  After  being  kept  in  a  most  tantalizing  manner  for  two 
days  by  a  dead  calm,  we  at  length  got  into  the  river  Gotha  about 
nine  o'clock  yesterday,  and  landed  after  a  full  three  hours  waiting 
for  the  Custom-house  officers,  which  time  we  passed  in  admiring 
the  singular  appearance  of  the  harbour,  without  tides,  and  with 
rushes  growing  even  in  the  sea,  and  taking  sketches  of  some  odd 
shaped  rocks  which  surrounded  it.  On  the  whole  it  very  much 
answered  my  idea  of  a  Scotch  lake,  excepting  that  in  one  part  there 
were  some  large  oaks  almost  close  to  the  beach,  a  phenomenon 
which  I  scarcely  expected  in  so  high  a  latitude.  Our  baggage  was 
at  first  taken  to  the  Caledonian  hotel  (for  there  are  Scotchmen 
every  where ;)  but  we  soon  found  that  Mr.  Smith,  the  consul,  had 
bespoken  us  very  neat  lodgings  in  a  tavern  near  his  counting- 
house.  With  him  we  dined  yesterday  very  sumptuously,  though, 
according  to  English  ideas,  every  thing  was  inverted,  as  we  began 
dinner  with  noyau,  then  roast  beef,  and  last  of  all,  fish  and  desert. 
Our  party  was  entirely  English.  We  dined  to-day  with  another 
gentleman  in  the  town,  to  many  of  whom  we  have  been  introduced, 
and  who  seem  inclined  to  show  us  much  civility.  We  can  just 
talk  Swedish  enough  to  find  our  way  about ;  and  in  company 
English  is  so  well  understood,  that  even  French  has  yet  been  very 
little  wanted.  Thornton  has  purchased  a  hght,  but  strong  and 
comfortable  carriage ;  and  as  the  roads  are,  we  understand,  the  best 
in  Europe,  and  the  little  Swedish  poneys  very  good  goers,  our 
posting  will,  I  hope,  be  prosperous. 

"  We  have  seen  all  the  curiosities  of  Gottenburg,  which  are 
indeed  not  very  numerous ;  the  city  has  suffered  twice  in  the  last 
five  years  by  dreadful  fires,  and  at  present  upwards  of  one  third  is 
a  heap  of  rubbish.  From  this,  however,  are  rising  new  streets,  on 
a  very  uniform  and  magnificent  plan,  with  a  spirit  which  bears 
testimony  to  the  flourishing  trade  of  the  place.  When  finished, 
few  towns  of  its  size  will  be  able  to  vie  with  it.  It  is  regularly 
fortified,  but  the  ramparts  are  much  neglected,  and  the  cannon 


GOTTENBURG.  45 

lying  to  rust  under  long  grass.  The  principal  streets  are  of  very  chap. 
great  width,  with  navigable  canals  in  the  middle,  which  comniuni-  i"**-"*- 
cate  with  the  harbour  on  one  side  and  with  the  country  on  the  other, 
and  afford  a  very  singular  prospect  by  the  mixture  of  masts,  trees, 
rocks,  and  chimneys.  The  houses  were  formerly  of  wood,  and  are 
still  so  in  the  suburbs ;  but  since  the  late  fire  all  new  erections  are 
of  brick  or  stone,  and  generally  very  handsome  and  lofty. 

"  As  to  the  general  appearance  of  the  lower  classes,  I  can 
merely  say  they  are  civil  and  cleanly.  The  women  have  their  hair 
snooded  in  a  large  knot  on  the  crown  of  the  head,  and  in  fair 
weather  wear  nothing  upon  it  but  a  very  white  and  clean  handker- 
chief; they  are  generally  barefooted.  On  the  whole,  Thornton, 
who  has  been  in  Scotland,  says  that  he  is  often  reminded  of  what 
he  saw  there ;  and  the  tone  of  voice,  which  is  completely  Scotch, 
assists  the  deception." 

To  Richard  Heber,  Esq. 

Gottenburg,  August,  1805. 
"  Dear  Brother, 

"  T  hope  you  have  none  of  you  been  amvised  with 
any  of  the  good  stories  of  privateers,  which  have,  we  understand, 
been  lately  circulated  ;  you  might  else  have  concluded  that  our 

voyage  had  terminated  in  the  harbour  of  Dunkirk 

"  Gottenburg  is  reckoned  to  hold  about  ten  thousand  people ; 
I  think,  in  reality,  not  more  than  six  thousand.  The  fortifications, 
the  canals,  and  the  general  appearance  of  the  country  are  all  so 
different  to  what  I  have  seen  before,  that  my  attention  has  been  on 
the  stretch  ever  since  I  came  here.  Of  the  country  I  can  as  yet 
say  nothing,  and  but  little  of  any  thing  else.  The  society  of  the 
place  appears  very  hospitable  and  well  informed,  though  (as  being 
chiefly  mercantile)  not  particularly  polished.  There  are,  however, 
two  or  three  chevaliers  or  '  ridderes '  (chevaliers)  of  the  orders  of 
Vasa  and  the  Polar  Star,  whose  white  crosses,  and  '  alba  nautis 
Stella  refulget,'  and  who  seem  to  be  pleasing  men.    Not  that  these 


46  SWEDISH  SOLDIERS. 

CHAP,  orders  appear  to  be  much  thought  of,  being  given  to  lawyers, 
i«05.  architects,  physicians,  men  of  all  classes,  and  even  to  the  clergy. 
As  to  females,  of  the  higher  classes  I  mean,  I  suppose  there  are  such 
things  in  Gottenburg,  but  I  am  utterly  unable  to  give  any  account 
of  them.  The  two  parties  we  have  been  at  were  entirely  male  ; 
and  the  weather  is  too  rainy  for  seeing  any  thing  gay  in  the  streets. 
The  lower  classes  of  the  men  are,  I  think,  taller  than  the  English, 
with  universally  flaxen  hair,  and  generally  well  made  and  handsome; 
for  the  women  I  cannot  say  so  much :  both  are  clean  and  civil.  I  saw 
some  very  picturesque  groups,  this  morning,  in  the  market-place- 
where  was  a  good  deal  of  meat  and  fish,  but  no  vegetables  of  any 
sort ;  on  enquiry,  I  fovmd  that,  excepting  green  peas,  none  were 
yet  to  be  had ;  yet  fruit  is  plentiful  and  excellent,  particularly 
strawberries.  The  claret  here  is  very  passable,  and  the  style  of 
dinners  pleasant,  without  much  tedious  form  or  ceremony. 

"  As  Gottenburg  is  a  garrison  town,  I,  of  course,  felt  eager  to 
observe  the  Swedish  soldiers,  with  whom,  on  the  whole,  I  am  very 
favourably  impressed ;  they  are  well-looking  clean  men,  remarkably 
so,  indeed,  when  you  find  that  their  pay  is  not  above  two-pence 
daily,  and  their  uniform  only  changed  every  two  or  three  years. 
Instead  of  sheathing  their  bayonets  they  reverse  them  on  the 
musquet.  The  establishments  of  regiments  and  companies  is 
much  the  same  as  of  those  in  our  service,  where  the  company  is  a 
hundred  men  and  four  officers.  The  captains  are  distinguished 
by  a  white  handkerchief  tied  round  the  left  arm,  a  badge  which 
originated  in  being  worn  by  the  king's  party  in  the  late  revolution 
under  Gustavus  the  Third.  He,  by  the  way,  appears  to  be  spoken 
of  with  respect  and  affection ;  more,  I  am  inclined  to  think,  from 
some  expressions  I  have  heard,  than  the  present  young  king  pos- 
sesses, though  his  character  appears  very  interesting.  A  gentleman 
to  day  was  complaining  that,  since  the  revolution,  the  Diet  had 
scarcely  ever  met,  and  unless  the  court  was  hard  pressed  for  money, 
was  very  unlikely  to  do  so.  This  surprised  me,  as  I  had  always 
thought  their  sessions  were  as  regular  as  those  of  our  parliament. 
The  king  is  also  accused  of  some  degree  of  hauteur,  though  he 

7 


MODE  OF  TRAVELLING.  47 

is  highly  praised  for  a  generous  lofty  spirit,  and  good  intentions,  chap. 
On  the  whole,  I  shrewdly  suspect  that  we  shall  meet  with  a  party  i«05- 
not  much  inchned  to  favour  the  measures  of  the  present  English 
government.  The  late  rupture,  and  the  contempt  shown  to  the 
Swedish  flag  in  searching  the  convoy  are  not  forgotten.  It  is, 
however,  very  impossible  to  form  any  opinion  so  immediately  on 
our  entrance  into  a  country.  I  shall,  moreover,  be  extremely 
cautious  in  conversation. 

"  Prince  William  of  Gloucester  and  Sir  Sidney  Smith,  are  said 
to  be  very  popular  characters  at  Stockholm  ;  if  you  could  get  us 
letters  of  introduction  from  them,  they  would  be  of  very  great  use, 
and  there  is  still  time  to  forward  them. 

"  I  have  been  to  day  in  one  of  the  petty  courts  of  justice, 
which  was  pretty  much  like  an  English  justice's  room  on  a  market 
day.     The  packet  is  to  sail  and  I  must  finish." 


To  Richard  Heber,  Esq. 

Friderickshall,  Auyust  8. 

"  The  day  after  I  sent  off  my  last  letters  w^e  left  Gottenburg 
in  Thornton's  newly  purchased  carriage,  which  is  a  small  light 
four-wheeled  cabriolet  with  a  coach  box,  and  a  seat  behind  for  the 
peasant  who  goes  to  take  care  of  the  horses.  The  top  is  so  con- 
trived as  to  fold  up  with  glasses,  &c,,  so  as,  when  wanted,  to 
become  as  warm  as  a  close  carriage  ;  the  whole  not  much  heavier 
than  an  English  curricle  and  not  so  high  ;  it  is  drawn  easily  by 
two  horses  about  the  size  of  a  Welch  poney.  The  manner  in 
which  post  horses  are  prociwed  is  as  follows ;  about  four  or  five 
hours  before  you  set  out,  you  send  on  a  person  called  the  '  forbiid,' 
or  bespeaker,  with  a  card  of  the  posts  where  you  will  want  horses, 
and  the  hour  they  are  to  be  ready.  He  goes  in  a  small  cart  with 
one  horse,  in  which  it  is  usual  to  send  part  of  the  baggage.  We 
sent  one  portmanteau,  into  which  we  put  as  many  things  as  were 
necessary  for  a  Norway  tour;  (a  king's  messenger  who  was  going  to 
Stockholm  undertook  to  carry  the  remainder  of  our  baggage  there 


48  KING  OF  SWEDEN. 

CHAP,  directly).  On  the  arrival  of  the  forbiicl  at  a  post-house,  a  message 
1805.  is  immediately  sent  to  the  neighbouring  peasants,  who  are  obliged 
by  law  to  furnish  the  horses  required ;  the  rate  of  posting  is  about 
Ik/.  English,  per  horse,  the  English  mile  ;  the  horses  ai-e  very  spi- 
rited and  able  for  their  size,  and  the  rate  of  travelling  about  six 
miles  and  a  half,  or  one  Swedish  mile,  the  hour. 

•'  The  day  before  we  left  Gottenburg  we  met  at  Mr.  Smith's 
two  English  travellers.  Major  Hanbury  and  the  brother  of  Stack- 
house  of  All  Souls,  who  were  going,  like  ourselves,  to  Norway,  and 
had  been  through  Denmark,  and  with  the  King  of  Sweden  at  Hel- 
singborg ;  we  met  them  again  at  Trollhatta,  where  they  intended 
to  stay  a  day  or  two  to  fish.  They  spoke  highly  of  the  affability 
of  the  Prince  of  Denmark.  The  King  of  Sweden's  manners  are 
not,  it  seems,  so  conciliating ;  of  this,  indeed,  we  had  heard  a 
good  deal  from  the  Swedes  themselves.  The  Swedish  soldiers  are 
obliged  to  take  off  their  hats  whenever  they  are  within  a  certain 
distance  of  Helsingborg;  and  the  king  reads  all  the  passports 
granted  to  travellers  himself.  He  is,  however,  by  all  accounts,  really 
a  fine  fellow,  though  I  think  I  have  observed  several  symptoms  of 
discontent  at  his  conduct.  Mr.  Pitt,  by  the  way,  is  much  disliked 
at  Gottenburg.  I  have  nothing  more  to  add  respecting  that 
town,  than  that  there  is  a  sort  of  affectation  of  literature,  though 
probably  not  much  real,  displayed  by  some  of  its  inhabitants.  The 
booksellers'  shops  are  pretty  well  stored  with  English  and  German, 
but  no  classics,  and  very  few  French  books.  The  importation  of 
the  last  is  strictly  forbidden  by  government. 

"  We  have  now  seen  a  considerable  tract  of  Swedish  ground, 
which,  with  great  variety,  and,  in  one  or  two  instances,  excessive 
barrenness,  has  exceeded,  on  the  whole,  my  highest  expectations  in 
the  sublimity  of  the  landscape,  and  the  occasional  appearance  of 
cultivation  and  fertility.  These  qualities,  indeed,  are  strangely 
blended  with  the  wildest  and  most  gigantic  features  of  nature. 
Each  day's  journey  has  taken  us  through  a  rapid  succession  of 
rocks,  forests,  meadows,  and  corn-fields ;  and  we  have  often  met 
with  lakes  which  in  size  certainly  excell,  and  cannot,  I  think,  be 


TROLLHATTA— FALLS  ON  THE  GOTHA  49 

surpassed  in  beauty  by  those  of  Cumberland.  In  one  point  only  chap. 
Sweden  falls  short  of  an  English  landscape  ;  there  is  a  sameness  ^"''^- 
and  want  of  variety  in  the  fir  woods,  which  made  us  often  regret  the 
oak  and  beech  we  had  left  behind.  Of  these  but  few  are  to  be 
met  with,  and  universally  in  sheltered  situations.  The  ridges  of 
the  mountains  are  either  bare,  or  assume  a  bristly  appearance  from 
the  pine  and  spruce  fir,  which  are  the  ordinary  timber  of  the  coun- 
try. Of  round-topped  trees,  the  most  common  are  the  alder  and 
the  birch,  which  line  all  the  valleys  and  the  edges  of  the  brooks 
and  rivers.  Of  the  characteristics  of  the  country,  the  abundance 
of  rock  is,  however,  most  remarkable.  I  do  not  believe  we  have  at 
any  time  seen  four  hundred  yards  of  land  together,  without  rock 
visible  above  the  surface.  Amid  the  crags,  juniper  and  strawber- 
ries grow  very  abundantly ;  and  in  sheltered  situations  we  have 
frequently  found  whole  thickets  of  rose-bushes,  and  a  small  kind 
of  wild  raspberry.  The  mountains  we  have  passed  are  not  par- 
ticularly gigantic  ;  those  of  Wales  are,  I  think,  higher ;  their  appear- 
ance is,  however,  very  striking  from  their  perpendicular  or  craggy 
sides,  and  the  tall  fir  trees  which  clothe  them.  I  was  once  or 
twice  reminded  of  Hawkstone  on  a  much  larger  scale.  Heath  is 
very  rare,  except  in  the  country  about  Hede,  which  is,  for  nine  or 
ten  English  miles,  or  more,  as  barren  and  desolate  as  can  possibly 
be  conceived,  entirely  crags  and  heath.  At  Hede  there  was  no- 
body who  could  inform  us  of  any  local  traditions  respecting  this 
unfortunate  district ;  indeed  we  are  not  sufficiently  skilled  in  Swe- 
dish to  render  conference  very  easy ;  but  we  were  much  struck  with 
the  vast  number  of  cairns  and  runic  columns  which  were  visible, 
and,  above  all,  with  a  circle  of  stones  rather  larger  and  a  good  deal 
more  perfect  than  that  at  Long  Compton,  What  would  Dr- 
Stukely  say  to  such  a  monument  in  Scandinavia  ?  Trollhatta, 
which  was  our  first  object  after  leaving  Gottenburg,  is  a  small 
and  dirty  village,  remarkable  for  the  beauty  of  the  falls  on  the 
river  Gotha,  and  for  the  canal  and  sluices  by  which  vessels  are  let 
down  a  precipice  of  seventy  feet  by  seven  locks.  By  this  means  a 
junction  is  effected  between  the  lake  Wenner  and  the  ocean.     The 

VOL.  I.  H 


50  SWEDISH  PEASANTRY. 

CHAP,  old  sluices  were  erected  at  a  great  expense  close  to  the  falls  ;  they 
^»05-  are  now  in  ruins ;  the  new  ones  make  a  considerable  detour, 
and  cost  70,000/.  in  building.  Trollhatta  is  the  property  of  the 
Navigation  Company.  The  Gotha  itself  is  a  noble  river,  if  river 
it  can  be  called,  being,  in  fact,  a  channel  by  which  the  lake  dis- 
charges itself  into  the  sea ;  a  fresh  water  Bosphorus  would  be 
perhaps  a  better  name. 

"  With  respect  to  the  state  of  the  lower  classes  in  Sweden, 
our  information  is,  of  course,  limited ;  they  appear  all  tolerably 
clothed  and  fed,  and  are,  perhaps,  as  well  lodged  as  any  peasantry 
in  Europe ;  we  have  talked  with  them  as  much  as  our  knowledge 
of  the  language  would  let  us,  and  found  them  all  civil  and  intelli- 
gent. The  price  of  labour  is  from  seven  to  ten  skillings  a-day ;  (the 
skilling  is  about  three-farthings  English).  The  system  of  farming 
seems  much  to  resemble  that  in  the  mountainous  parts  of  Wales  ; 
the  hay  crops  are  very  light  and  are  drawn  to  the  barns  on  sledges ; 
draining  is  a  good  deal  practised,  but  apparently  on  an  imperfect 
scale  ;  grain  tolerably  well  managed  and  thriving ;  the  bread  is 
chiefly  oat  cake.  The  fences  to  the  fields  consist  of  a  great 
many  rails  of  fir  laid  over  each  other  like  bricks  in  a  wall,  and 
kept  together  by  upright  stakes.  The  houses  are  built  in  the  same 
manner  with  logs,  and  generally  roofed  with  shingles  or  red  tiles; 
on  the  roofs  of  cottages  they  place  a  layer  of  turf  on  which  the 
goats  are  frequently  seen  browsing.  The  Churches  are  likewise 
generally  of  wood,  painted  on  the  outside  in  imitation  of  stone, 
and  plentifully  bedaubed  with  gilding  and  glaring  colours  within. 
Of  Norway,  where  we  only  arrived  this  morning,  I  can  yet  say  little ; 
the  people,  particularly  the  women,  seem  much  handsomer  than 
the  Swedes." 

JOURNAL. 

"  The  country  about  Udevalla  is  very  beautiful,  though  the 
woods  are  small  and  composed  of  young  trees ;  these  are  chiefly 
pine  and  fir  on  the  hills,  and  in  the  valleys,  alder,  mountain-ash, 


UDEVALLA— FRIDERICKSHALL.  51 

birch,  and  a  little  oak  and  willow.  The  Church  is  built  in  the  chap. 
form  of  a  cross,  and  though  too  gaudy  is  very  handsome  ;  its  steeple  '^"^ 
is  detached.  The  population  of  Udevalla  is  estimated  at  about 
six  thousand  inhabitants :  it  is  subject  to  the  Bishop  of  Gotten- 
burg ;  it  has  a  large  free-school  where  Latin  is  taught,  and  English 
is  privately  taught  in  the  town.  We  were  told  by  a  Swedish  gen- 
tleman at  Gottenburg,  that  the  importation  of  all  French  books 
is  forbidden. 

"  August  7. — The  country  from  Udevalla  to  Quistrun  is  very 
fine,  the  sea  forming  a  magnificent  lake.  At  the  latter  place  an 
annual  meeting  of  ])easants  was  held  on  the  day  we  arrived  to 
settle  taxes,  &c.  At  Hodahl  from  the  stupidity  of  our  forblUl  we 
could  get  no  horses,  and  walked  seven  miles  through  a  magnificent 
forest  with  fine  rocks,  to  Swinesund,  where  we  arrived  at  eleven 
at  night,  but  were  detained  a  couple  of  hours  by  the  roguery  of  the 
Swedish  Custom-house  officer,  who,  on  pretence  of  some  informality 
in  ovu-  papers,  refused  to  let  us  proceed  without  paying  a  hundred 
and  fifty  rix  dollars  ;  but  when  we  threatened  to  complain  of  him  to 
the  government  at  Stockholm,  and  declared  ourselves  ready  to  go 
back,  he  altered  his  tone  and  begged  for  six  rix-dollars,  as  the  price 
of  our  passage  across  the  river  into  Norway. 

"Aug.  8tli,  Fridericlshall. — The  houses  in  this  town  are  uni- 
versally of  wood,  and  of  only  one  story ;  the  inn  is  good,  but  the 
charges  are  very  exorbitant,  as  is  the  case  every  where  in  Norway. 
We  received  great  kindness  from  Mr.  N.  Anker,  who  introduced  us  to 
the  best  society  in  the  place,  and  gave  us  the  means  of  seeing  every 
thing  worthy  of  notice.  From  the  castle  there  is  a  magnificent 
view  of  the  town  and  harbour ;  but,  as  being  foreigners,  we  were 
not  admitted  within  its  walls.  Prince  Charles  of  Holstein  is  the 
governor.  It  is  customary  here,  whenever  the  merchants  give  an 
entertainment,  to  hoist  flags  on  the  vessels  then  in  harbour,  and  to 
fire  their  cannon.  We  saw  the  place  where  Charles  fell ;  it  is  now 
only  marked  by  a  plain  wooden  cross ;  but  formerly  there  was  a 
monument  with  an  inscription  on  it,  till  Gustavus  the  Third  caused 
it  to  be  removed ;  its  distance  from  the  fort  is  little  more  than  point 

H   2 


52  WOLF-HUNTING. 

CHAP,  blank  musquet  shot ;  indeed  the  long  musquets  of  which  Marshal 
^8"^-  Saxe  speaks,  would  certainly  carry  as  far.  Yet  Mr.  Rosencrantz 
told  lis  that,  not  many  years  ago,  there  were  some  Swedes  at  Peters- 
burg who  boasted  of  having  killed  Charles  with  their  own  hands. 
There  is  a  very  large  sugar-house  here,  which,  with  the  exception 
of  that  at  Trondheim,  is  the  only  one  in  the  country.  Mr.  Anker 
has  two  ships  employed  in  trading  with  the  West  Indies.  We 
went  with  Mr.  Anker  this  evening  to  a  party  in  the  town,  where 
we  met  some  very  pleasant  people ;  almost  all  the  young  men 
spoke  good  English,  a  knowledge  of  which  is  considered  indis- 
pensable in  their  mercantile  pursuits.  The  ladies,  after  supper, 
sang  '  for  Norske  kiempers  Fodiland,'  and  some  other  pretty 
Norse  songs  with  great  spirit,  and  very  agreeably.  I  have  been 
struck,  indeed,  with  the  national  high  spirit  of  the  Norwegians 
in  general.  The  clergy  are  much  respected,  and  live  in  easy 
circumstances.  Over  a  certain  number  of  clergymen  there  is  a 
provost  elected  by  themselves,  whose  functions  nearly  answer  to 
those  of  our  rural  deans. 

"  A  considerable  degree  of  animosity  seems  to  prevail  between 
Norway  and  Sweden.  The  backwardness  of  the  Swedish  fleet 
during  the  rupture  with  England,  was  attributed  by  the  former  to 
private  orders  sent  by  the  king,  who  wished  to  see  Denmark  hum- 
bled. The  condition  of  the  Norse  peasantry  is  easy  ;  their  daily 
pay  for  labour  is  equal  to  two  shillings  of  our  money. 

"  Wolf-hunting  is  a  very  common  amusement  in  winter  ;  the 
party  go  out  in  sledges,  having  a  little  pig  in  each  sledge,  on  whose 
tail  they  tread  to  make  it  squeak  ;  the  noise  immediately  brings 
the  wolves  out  in  such  multitudes,  that  even  a  good  shot  is  some- 
times in  danger. 

"  Aug.  9th. — We  went  this  morning  with  Mr.  Wolff,  the  Con- 
sul, to  Haslund,  the  seat  of  Mr.  Rosencrantz,  the  late  envoy  to  Pe- 
tersburg, where  we  were  nobly  entertained.  I  was  much  delighted 
with  the  conversation  and  manners  of  Mr.  Rosencrantz ;  neither 
he  nor  his  wife  speak  English,  but  are  perfect  masters  of  French. 
He  is  of  a  noble  family,  renowned  in  a  book  called  '  The  Worthies 


CASCADE  ON  THE  GLOMM.  53 

of  Denmark.'  The  house  holds  the  second  place  m  Norway  for  chap. 
beauty  and  convenience;  it  much  resembles  a  French  chateau.  isos. 
The  approach  is  through  a  long  avenue  of  fir  trees,  and  the  rooms 
are  all  of  the  same  size,  about  twenty-seven  feet  by  nineteen, 
opening  into  a  suite.  The  gardens  are  laid  out  in  the  old-fashioned 
style,  with  a  large  clock  in  the  centre,  moved  by  water,  the  inven- 
tion and  workmanship  of  a  peasant.  Mr.  Rosencrantz  has  intro- 
duced larches  into  the  country,  and  has  planted  many  thousands 
himself,  which  seem  to  thrive  well,  and  are  certainly  very  superior, 
as  timber,  to  the  native  fir.  After  breakfast  we  went  to  see 
the  noble  cascade  on  the  Glomm,  and  the  extensive  saw-mills 
which  are  turned  by  it.  The  timber  is,  for  the  most  part,  felled 
at  a  great  distance  up  the  river,  down  which  it  is  floated  to  the 
mills,  not  tied  together  or  in  rafls,  but  trusted  entirely  to  chance. 
Mr.  Rosencrantz  has  built  excellent  cottages  for  his  labourers,  most 
of  whom,  as  well  as  the  peasantry  in  general,  are  likewise  small 
freeholders ;  this  system  has  also  been  gradually  taking  place  in 
Denmark  since  the  emancipation  of  the  boors. 

"  The  population  of  Norway  is  rapidly  increasing,  and  culti- 
vation proportionably  improved,  without  any  apparent  fears  being 
entertained  of  a  redundancy  of  people.  Land  has  risen  fifty  per 
cent,  in  value  during  the  last  ten  years.  Mr.  Rosencrantz,  who 
has  travelled  a  good  deal  in  England,  has  introduced  some  English 
improvements  into  the  system  of  farming,  but  not  very  extensively ; 
he  has  a  large  dairy,  and  some  of  his  cows  are  crossed  from  the 
English  breed  ;  the  native  cow  is  about  the  size  of  those  of  Cheshire, 
and  very  much  resembles  them  ;  the  cheese  is  however  different, 
and  more  like  that  of  Gloucestershire.  The  game  laws  have  fallen 
very  much  into  disuse.  Mr.  Rosencrantz  spoke  of  game  as  not  very 
plentiful,  but  I  conceive  that  he  spoke  of  it  as  in  comparison  with 
other  districts.  The  Norwegian  vegetables  are  more  highly  flavoured 
than  those  of  most  countries,  which  is  probably  owing  to  the  great 
heat  and  rapid  vegetation  of  their  short  summers  ;  the  pine  apples 
are  brought  from  England. 

"  The  gentry  pass  nine  months  of  the  year  in  Christiania,  and 


54  NOECK,  THE  KELPIE  OF  NORWAY. 


CHAP,     during  the  remaining  three  they  keep  open  house  in  the  country. 

'«»5.      The  wages  of  household  servants  are  low,  not  more  than  five  or 

six  pounds  a  year  for  a  man  servant ;  but  it  is  the  custom  for  guests 

to  give  largely  to  the  establishment  of  the  house  where  they  are 

visiting. 

"  Aug.  \Oth. — We  proceeded  by  a  wild  and  uninteresting  coun- 
try across  the  Glomm  in  a  ferry  to  Dillingen,  situated  by  the  lake 
of  the  same  name,  which  is  renowned  as  being  the  appropriate  re- 
sidence of  Noeck,  the  kelpie  of  Norway.  He  is  described  as  a 
malevolent  being  who  generally  appears  in  the  shape  of  a  black 
horse.  If  any  one  succeeds  in  bridling  him,  he  becomes  a  useful 
animal,  and  serves  his  master  faithfully.  This  information  we  had 
from  an  English  servant,  married  in  the  country,  who  said  that  a 
relation  of  his  wife's  told  him  seriously  that  he  had  himself  seen 
Noeck  in  harness,  quietly  drawing  a  plough;  but  the  moment 
the  bridle  was  taken  off,  he  gallopped  away  with  prodigious 
violence  and  noise,  plunged  into  tlie  lake,  and  disappeared. 
His  favourite  residence  is  at  Dillingen,  but  he  is  occasionally  seen 
in  other  parts  of  Norway. 

"  We  passed  through  Mos,  a  large  and  very  neat  town,  with 
harbour  and  shipping,  and  commanding  a  view  of  a  fine  country- 
house  belonging  to  the  late  Mr.  Bernard  Anker,  whose  extensive 
iron  works  are  in  the  neighbourhood,  over  a  barren  country  to 
Prinsdal,  from  whence  we  had  a  noble  view  of  Christiania.  It  was 
late  when  we  entered  the  town,  but  we  found  very  comfortable 
quarters  at  Thom's  hotel ;  where,  however,  in  compliance  with 
the  advice  given  us  by  Mr.  Wolff,  we  made  a  previous  bargain  for 
every  thing  we  wanted ;  as  the  Norwegian  innkeepers  are  noted 
for  their  impositions  on  strangers. 

"  Aiig.  Wth. — In  the  morning  we  called  on  Mr.  Peter  Anker, 
to  whom  we  had  letters  from  his  cousin  at  Friderickshall.  He  gave 
us  a  very  obliging  reception,  and  an  invitation  to  dine  with  him 
the  next  day.  We  then  paid  a  visit  to  Mr.  Collet,  a  merchant 
who  had  resided  many  years  in  London.  He  has  a  tolerable  col- 
lection of  pictures,  one  of  which,  a  woman  with  a  candle,  he  pointed 


OESTERVAL  PEASANTS.  55 

out  as  a  Michael  Angelo,  but,  which  I  think  is  impossible.  At  ch.w. 
Uleval,  Mr.  Collet's  country  house,  about  two  miles  from  Chris-  '^«5- 
tiania,  we  dined,  but  were  obliged  to  walk  as  we  could  get  no  post 
horses.  We  met  a  large  party,  among  whom  were  three  Oesterval 
peasants  in  the  costume  of  their  country ;  one  of  them  was  a  very 
pretty  girl  of  about  eighteen  ;  her  hair  was  quite  concealed  under 
a  close  lace  cap  covered  with  a  quantity  of  ribands,  and  she 
wore  a  great  many  gold  and  silver  ornaments;  but  the  dress 
was  not  altogether  ungraceflil :  her  father,  a  venerable  old  man 
with  white  hair,  asked  us  to  his  house  on  our  return  from  Trond- 
heim  ;  the  third  was  the  girl's  lover,  a  gigantic  wild-looking  figure, 
a  carpenter  by  trade,  from  the  same  neighbourhood.  Mrs.  Collet 
is  not  entitled  to  the  name  of  Fro,  as  her  husband  has  no  office 
under  government,  though  there  sat  at  the  same  table  the  wife  of 
a  regimental  surgeon,  who  claimed  the  title  as  the  lady  of  a  military 

officer. 

*  «  «  » 

*  »  *  * 


Mr.  Collet's  grounds  are  filled  with  giracracks  and  whirli- 
gigs ;  he  has  a  large  hop  garden,  and  has  endeavoured  to  intro- 
duce the  English  hop  into  the  country,  but  though  the  plants 
grow  rapidly  and  are  full  of  leaf,  the  hop  never  comes  to  per- 
fection. The  Norway  hop  is  much  less  beautiful,  but  more  hardy; 
I  should  think  if  might  be  introduced  with  very  good  effect 
into  England,  in  any  part  of  which  it  must  ufortio7'i  flourish.  We 
went  into  the  kennel,  where  was  a  strange  mixture  of  Norway 
and  English  dogs  of  all  descriptions.  The  farm  yard  is  very  ex- 
tensive and  well  managed.  In  our  tour  we  saw  several  fi'ames 
or  racks,  of  very  simple  construction  and  of  all  sizes,  erected  in 
airy  situations  for  the  purpose  of  drying  the  corn  and  hay  in  unfa- 
vourable seasons.  Mr.  Collet  professes  himself  to  be  an  improver 
on  the  English  system,  and  certainly  appears  to  understand  what 
he  is  about.  His  oxen  are  entirely  stall-fed  in  dark  low  houses, 
with  the  floors  elevated  above  the  ground  and  boarded,  so  that 


56  FORT— CATHEDRAL. 

<^^AP.  they  always  stand  dry  and  clean,  while  there  is  space  below  to 
^^°''^-  shovel  away  the  manure  to  the  dunghill,  where  all  the  drains  from 
the  different  stables  and  cow-houses  centre.  Mr.  Collet  expressed 
a  great  desire  to  have  an  English  dairy-maid,  and  particularly 
begged  me  to  let  him  know  if  he  had  any  chance  of  inducing  one 
to  come  out ;  (the  cows  are  here  all  milked  by  women.)  He  also 
showed  much  anxiety  to  have  models  of  thrashing  machines,  or 
any  other  English  novelties.  I  wish  I  may  be  able  to  procure  hira 
some,  especially  a  receipt  for  making  Cheshire  cheese. 

"  The  birch-tree  of  Norway  grows  to  a  prodigious  size,  and  is 
of  a  beauty  of  which  we  can  conceive  no  idea ;  I  should  think  its 
introduction  into  England  would  be  a  very  valuable  acquisition^ 
and  very  easily  effected. 

"  Aiig.  12th. — I  bathed  this  morning  in  the  harbour,  which  is 
very  deep  in  the  middle,  but  shallow  and  muddy  at  the  sides.  We 
went  over  the  fort  which  is  in  bad  repair ;  the  discipline  of  the 
garrison  does  not  seem  very  strict,  inasmuch  as  we  found  a  sentinel 
asleep  on  his  post.  The  Danish  uniform  is  red  with  green  facings ; 
the  soldiers  are  alert  in  their  movements,  but  do  not  seem  to  stand 
much  in  awe  of  their  officers. 

"  The  sabbath  appears  to  be  very  little  reverenced  in  Chris- 
tiania  ;  the  public  comptoirs,  indeed,  are  shut  up,  but  generally 
speaking,  all  classes  follow  their  various  occupations  and  amuse- 
ments as  on  a  week  day ;  and  in  the  Cathedral,  to  which  we  went 
for  morning  service,  we  found  only  four  or  five  old  women  and  some 
charity  children.  The  clergyman,  when  we  afterwards  met  him 
at  dinner  at  Mr.  Anker's,  at  Bogstat,  was  da-essed  in  a  green  coat 
and  striped  waistcoat.  Bogstat  is  a  very  magnificent  place,  about 
three  English  miles  from  Christiania,  with  a  fine  lake,  and  gardens 
laid  out  in  the  English  manner ;  there  is  a  good  deal  of  bad  taste, 
however,  visible  every  where ;  and  a  vile  summer-house  which  Mr. 
Anker  is  building  in  the  most  beautiful  and  conspicuous  part  of 
the  grounds,  has  the  worst  possible  effect.  There  is  a  large  and 
very  tolerable  collection  of  paintings,  made  by  himself  in  Italy, 
which   occupies  several  rooms   opening  out   of  each  other,    and 


HORSES.  57 

forming  a  handsome  suite  of  apartments.  After  seeing  these  we  chap. 
were  taken  to  the  stables,  where  IMr.  Anker  has  a  fine  stud.  The  ^^°^- 
horses  that  come  from  Dovre  are  the  most  famous  ;  they  are  heavy 
in  appearance,  but  trot  with  remarkable  swiftness ;  when  harnessed 
to  a  sledge,  a  good  one  has  been  known  to  go  a  Norway  mile  in 
fifteen  minutes  \  These  horses  are  rarely  kept  up,  but  are  driven 
at  this  rate  when  quite  fresh  and  rough  from  grass ;  when  tired 
they  roll  themselves  on  the  ground.  A  fine  one  of  this  breed  will 
fetch  about  400  dollars,  about  ninety  pounds  of  our  money. 

*'  Mr.  Anker  succeeded  his  brother  Bernard  in  the  office  of 
chamberlain,  and,  as  such,  though  not  now  in  the  army,  he  is 
entitled,  in  common  with  all  officers  under  the  crown,  to  wear  a 
uniform  with  two  epaulets.  The  badge  of  his  office  is  a  large 
key  and  riband  embroidered  in  gold  on  the  skirt  of  his  coat.  The 
title  of  chamberlain  is  considered  as  the  most  honourable  in  the 
kingdom  :  all  others  may  be  obtained  by  money  alone ;  but  for  this 
is  also  required  a  noble  descent,  with  very  powerful  interest  at 
court.  I  had  a  great  deal  of  conversation  with  Mr.  Anker  respect- 
ing the  state  of  Norway ;  the  information  he  gave  enabled  me  to 
correct  many  erroneous  opinions  which  I  had  formed  from  the 
partial  and  exaggerated  statements  of  others.  The  peasants  are 
totally  and  entirely  fi-ee ;  this  had  been  positively  denied  on  my 
previous  enquiries,  and  I  consequently  took  a  good  deal  of  pains 
to  ascertain  the  truth,  both  from  Mr.  Anker  and  others,  and  cannot 
doubt  the  fact.  There  has  been  no  hereditary  nobility  in  Norway 
since  their  extirpation  by  Christian  :  the  wealthy  families  are 
either  peasants  grown  rich,  or  merchants  from  other  countries, 
who  have  purchased  the  estates  of  the  ancient  possessors,  and 
with  them  their  privileges  of  nobility,  where  the  piu'chaser  was  of 
noble  birth  in  his  own  country. 

"  We  were  entertained  here,  as  well  as  every  where  else  in 
Norway,  with  princely  splendour  and  hospitality,  accompanied  at 
the  same  time  by  an  endeavour,  though  generally  a  fruitless  one, 

^  The  Norwegian  mile  consists  of  8223  English  yards,  nearly  4|  English  miles. 
VOL.  I.  I 


58  MILITARY  ACADEMY. 

(HAP.  to  imitate  English  manners.  We  met  Mr.  Bage,  the  engineer  of 
i""^-  Trolhiitta,  a  modest  sensible  man.  He  is  now  about  to  be  em- 
ployed by  the  Danish  government,  to  form  a  tunnel  and  canal 
between  Christiania  and  the  Mios.  The  king  of  Sweden  has  lately 
ennobled  him,  and  he  wears  the  blue  pantaloons,  &c.,  which  are 
appointed  as  badges  of  nobility.  He  mentioned  his  intention  of 
travelling  in  England,  with  a  view  of  improving  himself  in  engineer- 
ing. Two  of  Mr.  Anker's  nephews,  and  a  niece,  were  of  the  party, 
the  children  of  a  younger  brother  who  died  at  Bath ;  they  were 
expected  to  inherit  the  large  property  of  the  late  Bernard  Anker, 
but  he  left  his  fortune  in  a  strange  manner,  and  partly  divided 
among  the  Royal  family  ;  his  will  is,  however,  contested.  The 
young  Norwegians  are  often  educated,  from  fifteen  to  eighteen 
years  old,  in  London,  not  in  the  best  society,  where  they  acquire 
a  bad  imitation  of  our  manners,  and  an  affectation  of  dash,  with 
very  little  good  taste. 

"  Aug.  13fh. — We  went  this  morning  to  see  the  military  aca- 
demy. There  are  at  present  but  few  pupils,  but  it  seems  well  ma- 
naged. Under  the  shade  of  some  fine  trees  in  the  citadel  is  a  monu- 
ment erected  to  the  memory  of  one  of  the  young  men.  There  is  a 
large  school  in  the  town,  and  great  exertions  were  made  by  Mr. 
Bernard  Anker  to  procure  the  endowment  of  a  university,  but  to  this 
measure  the  Danish  government  objected,  in  order  to  induce  the 
Norwegians  to  send  all  their  young  men  to  Copenhagen  for  educa- 
tion. The  public  library  is  large,  and  open  to  all  the  inhabitants. 
The  librarian  did  not  understand  French,  but  spoke  Latin  fluently. 
He  informed  me  that  the  library  was  founded  by  a  private  benefac- 
tion, and  that  a  considerable  and  increasing  sum  was  appropriated 
for  its  support.  The  room  is  handsome  and  convenient,  with  a 
gallery  all  round  it.  They  have  few  classical  books,  but  a  good 
collection  of  modern  historians.  The  curiosity  they  set  the  highest 
value  on,  is  a  handsome  Bible  of  the  reign  of  Eric  the  First.  I 
enquired  for  a  book  which  Mr.  Rosencrantz  had  mentioned,  con- 
taining a  prophecy  of  the  French  revolution.  The  passage  was 
pointed  out  to  me,  but  being  in  German  it  was  incomprehensible. 


CATHEDRAL— ALUM  WORKS.  5t> 


I  could  not  help  observing  the  eagerness  and  real,  though  studi-    chap. 
ously  concealed,  faith  with  which  the  librarian  and  Mr.  Rosen-      tsos. 
crantz,    regarded  some  other  predictions  it  contains  concerning 
Denmark  and  Norway.     The  book  is  a  commentary  on  the  Reve- 
lations. 

"  The  Cathedral  is  a  handsome  building ;  the  bishop  of  the 
diocese  lives  at  Opslo,  a  village  about  a  mile  from  Christiania  ;  it  is, 
in  fact,  the  remains  of  the  ancient  city  which  was  destroyed  by  an 
accidental  fire,  or,  as  we  learnt  from  some  individuals,  by  the 
Swedes.  Opslo  is  certainly  the  third  city  in  point  of  antiquity  in 
Norway;  Storhammer  perhaps  the  first,  and  Trondheim  indis- 
putably the  next. 

"  At  Christiania  there  is  a  small  private  theatre,  in  which, 
during  the  winter,  the  gentry  of  the  place  amuse  themselves  by 
acting  Danish  and  sometimes  French  plays.  During  the  winter 
dancing  is  a  very  favourite  amusement,  but  it  is  not  common  in 
summer.  The  women  make  no  scruple  of  confessing  that  all  their 
clothes  and  finery  come  from  England,  from  whence  they  are  regu- 
larly supplied  with  the  newest  fashions.  In  Sweden  they  attempted 
to  deny  this,  and  said  also,  but  I  think  fi-om  appearances  untruly, 
that  sufficient  cloth  for  the  men's  clothes  was  manufactured  in 
their  own  country. 

"  Christiania  stands  on  an  arm  of  the  sea,  amid  wild  romantic 
scenery ;  its  harbour  appears  to  be  very  secure,  but  is,  in  fact, 
occasionally  subject  to  storms  so  violent  as  to  drive  vessels  from 
their  anchors.  The  Norwegians  complain  that  their  trade  is  not 
sufficiently  protected  by  the  Danes ;  no  guard-ship  is  ever  stationed 
in  the  port. 

"  The  evening  we  spent  with  young  Collet  and  a  Mi'.  Bolton, 
the  son  of  a  Surry  neighbour  of  Thornton's,  whom  we  fell  in  with  on 
our  way  back  from  Mr.  Collet's  on  Saturday  night.  We  went  with 
him  in  his  pleasure-boat  to  see  Mr.  Collet's  alum- works,  which  are 
near  the  town.  We  saw  the  whole  process,  which  is  very  curious ; 
the  alum  is  here  chiefly  produced  from  a  kind  of  slate,  strongly 
impregnated  with  sulphur,  which  is  for  some  time  exposed  in  heaps 

I  2 


60  POSTING— MILITIA. 

CHAP,    to  produce  decomposition,  and  is  then  roasted  for  five  weeks  to 
^^^-      extract  the  sulphur. 

"  Aug.  14th. — We  left  Christiania  this  morning,  as  the  lateness 
of  the  season  would  not  admit  of  our  longer  stay  there.  On  the  pre- 
vious evening  we  engaged  an  English  servant,  who  had  been  esta- 
blished for  many  years  at  Christiania  as  innkeeper,  to  accompany 
us  to  Kongsvinger  ;  he  had  been  in  the  habit  of  going  to  Trond- 
heim  with  travellers,  and  had,  lately,  made  the  journey  with  Messrs. 
Malthus  and  Otter.  The  rate  of  posting  in  Norway  is  sixteen  skil- 
ling  '  per  Danish  mile  for  each  horse ;  two  for  each  horse  to  the 
peasant,  who  goes  forward  to  get  them  ready,  and  about  the  same 
or  a  little  more  to  the  man  who  accompanies  you.  Between 
Roholt  and  Minue  we  past  a  large  house  and  iron-works,  belonging 
to  Mr.  C.  Anker.  The  roads  were  dreadfully  cut  up  by  timber 
carriages  ;  boards  are  put  up  by  the  side  of  the  roads  with  the 
names  of  the  proprietors  of  land,  who  are  obliged  to  keep  their 
respective  parts  in  repair,  inscribed  on  them.  The  country  gra- 
dually improved  in  beauty  as  we  approached  the  lake  Miosen, 
when  it  becomes  beyond  all  praise.  Near  Minue  is  a  ferry,  at  the 
place  where  the  lake  discharges  itself  in  a  broad  and  rapid  stream. 
On  our  way  we  saw  a  party  of  the  militia  go  through  their  manoeu- 
vres ;  they  were  cavalry,  the  soldiers  fine  looking  men,  and  the 
horses  tolerably  good,  though  both  were  heavy.  They  were  not 
very  expert  in  their  evolutions,  and  were  only  drilled  by  single  rank, 
and  told  off  by  fours,  instead  of  by  threes  as  in  England.  The  esta- 
blishment of  the  militia  is  under  the  following  regulations  :  during 
twelve  years  every  person  is  obliged  to  appear,  either  on  horseback 
or  on  foot,  according^  to  the  extent  of  his  property,  for  eight  suc- 
cessive days  for  the  purpose  of  drilling ;  they  are  assembled,  for 
the  most  part,  by  single  companies  or  troops,  and  their  discipline  is 
said  to  be  very  tolerable.  In  cases  of  necessity  they  are  attached 
to  the  regular  regiments,  and  are  subjected  to  the  same  laws.  We 
saw  many  of  the  foot  returning  home  from  drill,  but  none  in  the 

*  The  Danish  skilling  is  worth  something  less  than  a  halfpenny  of  our  money ;  that  of 
Sweden  is  nearly  double  the  value. 


LAKE  MIOS.  61 

field ;  they  were,  for  the  greater  part,  stout  men  and  clean,  but  '^h^*' 
had  not  a  very  soldier-like  appearai\ce.  The  time  of  theii-  going  '»»°- 
on  permanent  duty  is  not  fixed,  but  depends  on  local  convenience. 
After  they  have  served  for  twelve  years,  they  are  no  longer  obliged 
to  attend  drill,  but  continue  for  an  equal  length  of  time  subject  to 
be  called  out  in  case  of  invasion,  or  any  other  very  urgent  neces- 
sity ;  and  they  keep  their  arms  till  the  expiration  of  that  period. 
Wooden  magazines,  elevated  on  stone  posts  like  English  granaries, 
are  erected  in  centrical  parts  of  each  district,  and  beacons  are 
placed  on  the  tops  of  the  hills.  It  should  appear  from  hence 
that  the  greater  part  of  the  population  are  armed,  which  circum- 
stance will  account  for  their  apparent  freedom,  in  spite  of  the 
arbitrary  government  under  which  they  live.  The  province  of 
Hedemarken,  through  which  we  are  now  passing,  is  said  to  be 
infamous  on  account  of  the  dishonesty  of  its  inhabitants ;  indeed 
in  the  southern  parts  of  Norway  in  general,  as  well  as  along  the 
sea  coast,  the  manners  of  the  people  are  much  more  brutal,  and 
their  morals  looser,  than  in  the  interior. 

"  From  Minue  to  Morstuer  the  road  runs  along  the  border  of 
the  Mios  lake,  and  the  scenery  is  more  beautiful  than  any  thing 
I  have  seen ;  Thornton  was  reminded  of  the  Cumberland  lakes, 
but  gave  this  the  preference.  The  foliage  of  the  birch  adds  much 
to  its  beauty ;  the  road  is  good  though  hilly.  At  Morstuer  we 
slept  and  found  a  tolerable  inn. 

*'  Aug.  I5th. — Our  route  to  Grillum  still  lay  by  the  side  of  the 
lake,  of  which,  however,  it  is  impossible  to  be  weary,  from  the  con- 
stant variety  of  scenery  and  beauty  of  the  mountainous  outlines  of 
its  shores.  The  width  of  the  lake  varies  every  stage  from  that  of  a 
lake  to  a  river.  Near  Grillum  we  intended  to  have  gone  to  the 
site  of  Storhammer,  and  searched  for  Runic  antiquities,  but  were 
prevented  by  a  heavy  fall  of  rain  ;  this  we  regretted  much,  though 
Mr.  Anker  had  assured  us  there  was  nothing  worth  seeing ;  w-e 
wished  however  to  judge  for  ourselves,  but  could  not  wait  for  the 
chance  of  more  favourable  weather,  as  our  forhlid  was  gone  on  to 
order  horses ;  when  travellers  adopt  this  method  of  bespeaking 


62  STORHAMMER-ST.  OLAVE'S— SUPERSTITIONS. 

CHAP,  horses,  they  ought  to  be  careful  to  allow  sufficient  time  between 
i«05-  the  stages  to  admit  of  their  taking  views  of  the  country,  or  seeing 
whatever  is  most  remarkable  ;  for  want  of  this  precaution  we  found 
much  inconvenience.  Storhammer  is  situated  in  a  most  beautiful 
and  fertile  country  on  the  headland  of  the  lake.  It  is  almost  per- 
fectly the  centre  of  Norway,  and  I  cannot  conceive  a  more  likely 
place  for  a  general  assembly  of  the  tribes.  We  asked  the  post- 
master at  Grillum  whether  there  were  any  ruins  or  vestiges  of 
stone  circles,  &c.,  but  he  could  give  us  no  satisfactory  information. 
"  Between  Freng  and  Littlehammer  is  a  fountain  issuing  from  a 
large  rock,  which  the  peasants  pointed  out  to  us  as  the  scene  of  one 
of  St.  Olave's  adventures ;  his  name  and  titles  are  rudely  engraved 
on  the  rock.  We  could  not  understand  whether  the  miracle  is  said 
to  have  consisted  in  his  producing  water,  like  Moses,  by  striking 
the  rock  with  his  riding-staff,  or  merely  by  inscribing  his  name  on 
the  stone,  but  the  words  '  riding-staff  were  repeatedly  mentioned 
by  our  informant.  The  scenery  about  Littlehammer  is  very 
beautiful.  I  searched  in  vain  for  runic  remains,  or  any  vestiges  of 
the  hammer  of  Thor.  The  Norwegians  preserve  but  very  few  of 
their  ancient  traditions,  and  what  they  have  recorded  reach  no 
further  back  than  the  periods  of  their  own  internal  feuds,  and  their 
quarrels  with  Sweden.  Here  is  no  clanship,  no  hereditary  dis- 
tinctions, or  hereditary  bards,  to  preserve  the  memory  of  their 
ancient  warriors.  It  is  possible,  however,  that  they  still  have 
more  clear  ideas  on  these  subjects  than  have  yet  been  discovered ; 
and  that  a  perfect  acquaintance  with  their  language,  and  a  longer 
residence  among  them,  might  bring  many  of  their  romances  to 
light.  Their  superstitions  chiefly  appear  to  consist  in  a  fear  of 
sorcery,  and  a  belief  in  several  evil  spirits  called  by  the  general 
name  of  Neiss ;  some  of  these  appear  like  '  the  spectre  hovuid  in 
Mann,'  in  the  shape  of  a  large  rough  white  dog,  with  long  ears.  Of 
fairies  we  have  yet  been  able  to  learn  nothing  ;  the  ancient  Gothic 
name  of  Dvergar,  by  which  they  were  universally  known,  is  now 
appropriated  only  to  mortal  dwarfs.  They  believe  in  presages  of 
death  by  lights  and  mystic  noises.     The  Finns  are  held  in  great 


MEN  OF  GULBRANSDAL.  63 

terrour  by  them,  as  powerful  diviners  and  sorcerers,  who  are  able    chap. 
to  kill  men  by  shooting  at  them  when  they  are  absent.  ^s"^- 

"  Aug.  IGth. — The  country  to  Moshuuse  Star  continues 
very  beautiful,  with  the  lake  diminished  into  a  narrow  but  very 
rapid  river  where  it  is  confined  by  mountains,  and  then  expanding 
to  a  great  extent.  Beauty  seems  to  be  more  the  characteristic  of 
Norwegian  scenery,  in  these  districts,  than  grandeur.  At  Korse- 
garder  the  lake  becomes  permanently  a  rapid  river,  under  the 
name  of  Logan,  and  runs  through  a  wilder  and  less  beautiful 
country ;  the  inn  where  we  slept  was  a  mere  hovel.  We  here 
began  to  recognize  the  simplicity  of  manners  of  the  Norway 
peasants ;  the  men  who  went  with  the  horses  all  shook  us  by  the 
hand  at  parting,  were  very  talkative  and  lively,  and  addressed 
us  with  great  frankness  and  familiarity,  some  of  them  giving  us, 
out  of  pure  good  will,  tolerably  sound  thwacks  on  the  back  and 
shoulders. 

"  Aug.  nth. — From  Korsegarder  to  Breiden,  our  route  lay 
through  a  country  of  a  more  mountainous  and  rugged  appearance  ; 
Breiden  is  on  the  banks  of  a  small  but  very  beautiful  lake,  as  clear  as 
glass,  and  surrounded  by  mountains.  We  were  ferried  over  to  a 
peasant's  house  on  the  opposite  side,  where  we  dined.  Here  we 
met,  for  the  first  time,  some  of  the  gigantic  figures  and  long  yellow 
hair  of  the  men  of  Gulbransdal ;  hitherto  we  had  been  disap- 
pointed in  the  appearance  of  the  people  of  Norway,  but  we  now 
began  to  see  many  fine  looking  men,  though  certainly  not  so  many 
as  we  had  been  taught  to  expect ;  they  were  vmiformly  of  fair 
complexions,  with  red  bonnets  on  their  heads,  and  dressed  in  plaid 
cloth,  with  garters  of  very  lively  colours  tied  in  large  bows  at  their 
knees.  The  women  wear  enormous  buckles,  which  make  a  clinking 
noise  as  they  walk,  and  high-heeled  shoes,  which  gives  them  an 
appearance  of  height,  though  they  are  not  taller,  perhaps  hardly 
so  tall,  as  in  many  parts  of  Europe.  Their  dress  consists  of  a  coarse 
loose  shift  fastened  round  the  throat,  no  stays,  and  only  one  dark 
coloured  petticoat.  Sometimes,  however,  they  wear  a  waistcoat 
without  sleeves,  made  exactly  like  that  of  a  man,  their  hair  snooded 


64  DOVRE  MOUNTAINS. 

CHAP,  round  with  tape,  and  tied  back  from  the  forehead,  hanging  down 
'""^-  behind  in  long  ringlets.  The  houses  are  a  good  deal  ornamented 
with  carving,  sometimes  done  very  neatly,  and  the  doors  are  painted 
with  flowers  in  very  lively  colours.  Stoves,  which  are  used  in  the 
southern  parts  of  Norway,  are  here  rarely  seen.  The  natives  ad- 
here to  their  ancient  wide  chimney  in  the  corner  of  the  room,  made 
to  project  with  a  salient  angle,  which  is  supported  by  an  iron  bar ; 
their  form  is  very  convenient,  and  might  be  introduced  with  ad- 
vantage into  an  English  cottage ;  the  tops  of  the  chimneys  are 
sometimes  covered  with  a  little  dome  to  exclude  snow,  with  lateral 
perforations  for  the  smoke.  In  Sweden  they  have  a  small  trap- 
door to  answer  the  same  purpose.  Near  Breiden  we  passed  by 
the  spot  where  Sinclair  was  defeated  '. 

"  From  Oldstad  to  Tofte  the  road  is  bad  and  hilly.  Near 
the  former  place  we  saw  the  ruinous  effects  of  a  flood  in  1789, 
which  was  caused  by  the  bursting  of  the  sides  of  a  lake  in  the 
mountains  ;  twenty-six  villages  were  at  once  destroyed.  At  Tofte 
the  ascent  commences  to  the  Dovre  mountains,  which,  though  they 
are  reckoned  by  their  inhabitants  to  be  nearly  the  highest  land  in 
Europe,  do  not  appear  very  striking  or  lofty,  but  resemble  much  the 
north-country  moors  of  England  ;  in  winter  the  snow  may  possibly 
be  deep,  but  now,  even  on  the  highest  peaks,  very  little  was  visible. 
We  had  a  dreary  and  uninteresting  stage  to  Jerkin ;  the  people 
here  were  excessively  delighted  with  Pontoppidan's  map  of  Nor- 
way, which  we  had  with  us,  and  laughed  with  surprize  and  pleasure 
at  finding  the  road  mai'ked  out  from  their  own  houses  to  Kongs- 
wold.  On  our  left  hand  we  passed  the  highest  peak  of  Dovre, 
which  did  not  however  appear  very  high,  and  had  but  little  snow, 
even  on  the  northern  side.  We  slept  at  Kongswold  ;  the  inns  on 
the  Dovre  are  all  clean  and  comfortable ;  they  are  built  by  the 

'  Colonel  George  Sinclair,  with  a  considerable  army  of  Scotch  soldiers,  was  defeated  by 
a  band  of  Norwegian  peasantry,  at  the  Pass  of  Kringelen,  in  the  year  1612.  He  had  been 
enlisted  in  the  service  of  Gustavus  Adolpluis  of  Sweden,  in  one  of  his  wars  against  Christian 
the  IVth,  and  was  endeavouring  to  penetrate  through  Norway  into  Sweden  when  this  event 
took  place. — Ed. 


DRIOSTUEX.  65 


crown,  and  liave  many  independencies  and  privileges  allowed  them  chap. 
in  consideration  of  their  furnishing  horses  and  provisions  in  the  laos- 
winter  for  government  purposes,  and  for  all  the  poor  people  who 
possess  passports.  A  wild  and  formidable  stage  of  two  Norway 
miles  brought  us  to  Driostuen,  Our  carriage  was  thought  too 
heavy  for  a  pair  of  horses,  so  we  got  saddle-horses,  and  sent  it  on 
empty ;  the  road  runs  along  the  banks  of  the  Driva,  one  of  the 
three  rivers  to  which  Dovre  gives  ;  it  flows  to  Malde  ;  the  other 
two  are  the  Glomm  and  the  Dalhl,  the  former  of  which  falls  into 
the  Cattegat,  and  the  latter  into  the  gulph  of  Bothnia. 

"Aug.  I8th. — This  day,  Sunday,  we  passed  at  Driostuen ;  our 
halt  here  gave  us  an  opportunity  of  observing  the  manners  and  way 
of  living  of  the  richer  peasants.  Our  host  was  a  man  of  considerable 
wealth ;  besides  the  farm  he  held  from  the  crown,  he  told  us  that 
he  had  two  other  freeholds,  that  he  sold  three  hundred  head  of 
cattle  every  year,  and  kept  above  a  hundred  and  twenty  milch 
cows,  and  three  hundred  goats.  He  had  given  three  thousand 
dollars  as  a  marriage  portion  to  each  of  his  two  eldest  daughters. 
Driostuen  is  too  cold  for  the  growth  of  corn,  in  consideration 
of  which  he  had  an  allowance  of  corn  from  the  other  crown  farms 
in  the  neighbourhood.  The  house  resembled  other  Norwe- 
gian cottages,  but  was  inferior  to  many  ;  and  his  own  appearance, 
and  that  of  all  his  family,  were  as  far  removed  from  any  thing  like 
wealth  as  could  well  be  imagined.  Yet  in  some  respects  his 
housekeeping  was  liberal ;  his  table  was  spread  for  four  meals  a 
day,  always  with  meat  on  Sundays,  and  generally  throughout 
the  week.  He  had  extensive  store-houses  for  salt  meat  and  fish, 
as  well  as  for  oat  flour,  hops,  malt,  butter,  and  cheese ;  the  luxuries 
of  fowls,  eggs,  and  vegetables,  do  not  come  within  the  calculation 
of  a  Norwegian  peasant's  wishes.  The  greatest  simplicity  of  manners 
reigns  Anthin  this  valley,  in  some  respects  almost  approaching  to 
Arcadian  elegance ;  the  inhabitants  were  all  most  perfectly  without 
shyness  or  coldness  towards  strangers,  and  they  took  great  pains 
to  understand  and  answer  our  questions.  One  of  the  girls  had  a 
sort  of  guitar  with  five  strings,  which  Thornton  found  her  playing 

VOL.  I.  K 


66  EDUCATION  OF  PEASANTS— WOLVES. 

CHAP,  on  to  call  some  calves  up  from  pasture ;  after  a  little  solicitation 
1805.  she  let  us  hear  several  tunes,  most  of  them  lively.  On  being  asked 
to  sing,  she  refused  because  it  was  Sunday ;  but  on  a  sign  from  her 
father  she  ran  to  fetch  her  elder  sisters,  and  a  little  brother,  who 
began  singing  Psalms  very  agreeably,  till  the  old  man  and  his  son 
Knute  joined  the  chorus,  which  they  did  with  the  true  parish  clerk 
twang.  They  all  read  the  Psalms  out  of  a  Psalm  book.  We 
afterwards  were  told  by  Mr.  Leganger,  at  Trondheim,  that  the 
schoolmaster  of  the  district,  makes  a  regular  progress  from  village 
to  village,  having  his  meat  and  lodging  with  the  principal  farmers  ; 
and  all  the  inhabitants  who  cannot  read,  are  obliged  by  law  to  go 
to  him  for  instruction  :  he  receives  a  very  trifling  fee  from  each 
pei'son,  about  two  or  three  stivers,  and  his  whole  annual  income 
does  not  exceed  twenty-five  dollars  a  year ;  food  and  lodging 
are,  indeed,  supplied  to  him  gratis  during  his  journeys.  The 
priests  are  obhged  to  examine  the  children  annually  in  reading 
and  writing,  and  to  give  in  a  statement  of  their  abilities  to  the 
bishop.  Bibles  are  costly  and  are  seldom  possessed  except  by  the 
richer  sort  of  peasants  ;  they  almost  all  have  Luther's  catechism 
and  the  Psalm  book,  which  also  contains  the  Epistles  and  Gospels 
for  each  Sunday. 

"  We  spent  this  evening  in  a  very  long  and  fatiguing  scramble 
towards  the  summit  of  the  mountain  ;  we  reached  a  very  consider- 
able height,  but  though  we  saw  others  still  above  us,  yet  I  am  in- 
clined to  believe  that  one  of  the  points  we  attained  was  more  than 
tv^o  thousand  feet  above  Driostuen.  I  had  no  accurate  means  of 
ascertaining  this,  and  could  only  judge  by  comparison  with  the 
other  hills  around  it,  and  by  the  time  the  sunbeams  continued  on 
it.  We  descended  very  rapidly,  and  yet  were  full  two  hours  in 
reaching  the  base. 

"  Aug.  19//^. — We  left  Driostuen  by  Rvisen  and  Beirndale,  the 
valley  of  the  bears,  which  by  the  account  of  the  peasant  who  ac- 
companied us,  are  still  very  frequently  found  in  it.  Wolves  are 
very  numerous  and  troublesome;  they  have  already,  this  year, 
worried  several  cows,  and,  what  is  uncommon,  have  bitten  some 


COTTAGES— LEMMINGS.  67 


peasants  ;    they  frequently  tear  and  mangle  cows  without  devour-    chap. 
ing  any  more  of  them  than  the  bowels  and  kidneys.     The  country      isos. 
we  passed  through  was  very  woody  and  savage.     During  this  stage 
we  saw  the  cow-pipe,  an  instrument  five  feet  long,  made  out  of  the 
bark  of  the  birch-tree,  with  a  rude  but  not  unmusical  sound.     The 
master  of  the  farm  at  Driostuen  accompanied  us  the  first  stage, 
and  seemed  neither  ashamed  to  expect  or  receive  the  usual  six- 
pence drichsjiengar  ;  we  shook  hands  with  him  and  parted  good 
friends.     We  passed  Stuen,   Sundset,  Birkager,  crossed  a   ferry 
over  the  Driva,  and  found  the  road  to  Sognas  excessively  bad. 
During  this  day's  journey  we  saw  several  lemmings  '  ;  the  fable  of 
their  dropping  from  the  clouds  does  not  seem  yet  to  be  quite  lost ; 
it  was  mentioned  to  us  by  a  peasant,  though  not  as  a  thing  he 
credited  ;  he  added,  however,  that  they  always  appear  in  swarms 
after  thick  rainy  weather. 

"  Aug.  20th. — At  Bye,  Mr.  Bootle  mentions  in  his  journal, 
that  there  was  a  capital  inn  in  his  time  ;  there  is  now  no  post-house 
there  ;  this  change  fi'equently  happens  in  Norway,  where  the  situa- 
tion of  gestgevir  is  often  held  by  different  farmers  in  annual  rota- 
tion. It  is  accounted  a  gainful  office,  which  I  can  easily  conceive. 
At  INIalhuus  we  found  an  excellent  farm-house,  with  more  apparent 
symptoms  of  wealth  about  it,  in  the  form  of  silver  tea-spoons, 
forks,  and  coffee-pot,  &c.,  than  in  any  we  had  yet  seen ;  it  is 
situated  in  a  very  beautiful  and  fertile  country,  the  landscape  of 
which  reminded  me  of  some  of  Poussin's  ;  every  cottage  has  its 
own  hop  ground  and  potatoe  garden,  which  give  the  scene  a  rich 
and  flourishing  appearance  ;  some  of  their  fences  are  remarkably 
elegant,  with  upright  slender  sticks :  the  corridores  to  the  houses, 
w^hich  we  had  observed  in  the  southern  parts  of  Norway,  are  here 
no  longer  seen,  probably  on  account  of  the  increased  price  of  tim- 
ber ;  the  woods  are  almost  exclusively  bu-ch. 

"  The  approach  to  Trondheim  is  extremely  beautiful,  between 
high  rocks,  interspersed  with  many  gentlemen's  seats  and  gardens, 

'  A  species  of  rat. 
K    2 


68  TRONDHEIM. 

CHAP,  though  not  laid  out  in  the  best  taste  '.  On  ascending  a  steep  hill,  we 
'^"^-  came  suddenly  in  sight  of  the  city,  with  its  Cathedral,  fortifications, 
and  various  buildings,  white  and  glittering  in  the  sun,  in  the  centre 
of  a  most  magnificent  bay,  land-locked  with  mountains,  and  covered 
with  sails  of  all  descriptions.  The  whole  appearance  of  the  town 
is  imposing ;  the  streets  are  wide,  with  good-looking  white-washed 
houses,  and  a  large  market-place  in  the  centre,  where  there  is  a 
conduit  with  a  constant  supply  of  fresh  water.  We  met  with  very 
comfortable  accommodations  at  Holt's  tavern.  In  the  evening  we 
went  to  the  Cathedral  and  the  citadel ;  the  Cathedral  has  been  built 
at  many  different  times.  The  original  fabric,  which  forms  the  pre- 
sent chapter-house,  was  built  by  St.  Olaf,  and  dedicated  to  St.  Cle- 
ment. The  next  part,  in  point  of  antiquity,  is  the  south  transept, 
built  by  Harold  Hardcraade  in  the  year  1060,  and  dedicated  to  St. 
Mary;  it  was  repaired  and  beautified  in  1183  by  Archbishop 
Eisten,  who  also  erected  the  circular  chancel,  the  choir,  the  tower, 
and  the  north  transept.  The  nave  and  the  two  western  towers, 
which  are  now  in  ruins,  are  apparently  of  the  same  style  as  Melrose 
Abbey,  and  were  built  by  Archbishop  Sigurd  in  1248.  The  whole 
building  is  much  defaced  by  different  conflagrations,  pillaging,  and 
by  attempts  to  beautify  it.  In  the  years  1338,  1431,  and  1522  it 
was  burnt ;  in  1551  it  was  plundered  by  some  Flemish  pirates,  who 
carried  off  several  of  its  marble  pillars;  in  1689  the  spire,  which 

'  It  is  customary  to  erect  monuments  in  the  gardens  of  the  Norwegian  nobility,  to  comme- 
morate any  remarkable  event ;  the  following  lines  were  translated  by  Mr.  Reginald  Heber, 
from  an  inscription  intended  to  perpetuate  the  memory  of  the  friendship  of  two  persons  who 
were  living  at  the  time  it  was  written. 

"  May  every  light-winged  moment  bear 

A  blessing  to  this  noble  pair. 

Long  may  they  love  the  rural  ease 

Of  these  fair  scenes,  and  scenes  like  these  ; 

The  pine's  dark  shade,  the  mountain  tall, 

And  the  deep  dashing  water-fall. 

And  when  each  hallowed  spirit  flies 

To  seek  a  better  paradise, 

Beneath  this  turf  their  ashes  dear. 

Shall  drink  their  country's  grateful  tear  ; 

In  death  alike  and  life  possessing, 

The  rich  man's  love,  the  poor  man's  blessing." 


cathedral;  69 

was  a  hundred  and  ten  ells  high,  was  blown  down,  and  the  new     chap. 
one  consumed  by  lightning  in  1719.    It  is  still,  however,  a  noble      '"o^. 


fabric,  with  many  remains  of  beautiful  carving,  especially  about  the 
windows,  where  it  occasionally  peeps  out  from  under  a  coat  of  bar- 
barous rough-cast.  The  inside  is  heaped  up  with  four  or  five 
stories  of  galleries,  having  glass  windows  like  ship  cabins  ;  many  of 
the  pillars  are  said  to  be  of  marble,  but  the  whole  is  so  bedaubed 
and  blocked  up,  that  nothing  can  be  made  of  them.  On  each  side 
of  the  Altar  is  a  small  Chapel,  with  a  choir  and  a  rail  round  it,  fitted 
up  with  cushions  for  the  use  of  those  persons  who  go  to  Church 
on  the  Saturday  evening  previous  to  their  receiving  the  Sacra- 
ment ;  in  one  of  these  is  a  picture  of  a  Bishop  Pontoppidan,  who, 
as  far  as  I  can  learn,  was  father  to  Erick  the  Krakenist,  The  pre- 
sent entrance  into  the  Church  is  in  the  north  transept ;  the  south 
transept  contains  a  great  staring  monument  to  the  memory  of  Mr. 
Thomas  Angell,  a  rich  merchant  of  Trondheim,  and  a  great  bene- 
factor to  the  town.  He  died  in  1765,  leaving  an  immense  sum  of 
money  to  be  laid  out  in  public  benefactions.  A  free-school,  where 
Latin  and  Greek  are  taught,  an  asylum  for  old  maids,  and  various 
other  institutions,  either  formed  or  improved,  are  the  fruits  of  his 
liberality.  We  were  shown  a  vault  in  the  cathedral,  in  which  it  is 
the  custom  to  bury  all  such  military  commandants  as  die  during 
their  command  over  Trondheim.  The  Cathedral  is  now  called 
Dom  Kirke,  from  the  dome  over  the  Altar ;  its  ancient  name  was 
St.  Olaf  Kirke. 

"  The  works  and  fortifications  of  Trondheim  have  been  once 
very  considerable,  but  are  now  wisely  neglected,  though  still  kept 
neat,  and  the  ramparts  turfed  over.  The  situation  of  the  town 
itself  is  perfectly  indefensible ;  it  has  often  suifered  dreadfully  by 
fire,  as  well  as  by  the  inroads  of  Swede  and  Flemish  pirates.  It 
was  built  by  Olaf  Truggeson,  in  the  year  997 ;  in  1522  it  was 
much  damaged  by  lightning  ;  in  1551  it  was  plundered  by  the 
Flemish  pirates,  and  by  the  Swedes  in  1564,  and  burnt  down  by 
an  accidental  fire  in  1681.  A  little  to  the  north-east  of  the  town 
is  shown  the  spot  where  Harold  Haarfagre  held  his  court.     On  an 


70  MUNKHOLM. 


CHAP,    islet  in  the  bay,  and  forming  a  very  conspicuous  object  from  most 

1805.      parts  of  the  town,  stands  Munkhohii,  formerly  a  monastery,  and 

now  a  fortress  and  state  prison,  called  la  Bastille  du  Nord ;  it 

was  the  place  where  the  head  of  Haco  Jail  was  exposed,  as  well 

as  that  of  his  treacherous  servant,  by  Olaf  Truggeson. 

"  Aiig.  2\st. — We  called  on  Mr.  Justice  Raad  Knudtzen,  and 
w^ere  introduced  through  his  counting-house  with  much  solemnity. 
We  found  him  a  good-natured  man,  and  very  civil  and  serviceable. 
He  took  us  to  see  Munkholm,  or  Monk's  Island,  which  lies  about 
an  English  mile  from  the  shore  ;  the  water  in  the  harbour  was  very 
shallow.  At  present  there  are  but  few  prisoners  in  the  fortress, 
and  none,  properly  speaking,  of  state :  there  is  one  officer,  who, 
for  having  challenged  his  colonel,  is  confined  more  strictly  than 
any  of  the  others,  never  being  allowed  to  leave  his  room.  A  man 
of  the  name  of  Pascal  Powli,  formerly  a  workman  of  Mr.  Bolton's 
at  Birmingham,  is  in  prison  for  coining ;  and  we  also  saw  a  very  old 
man  who  had  been  confined  there  for  above  fifty  years,  and  had 
lost,  in  a  great  measure,  the  use  of  his  faculties  ;  we  were  much 
moved  by  his  appearance,  and  the  answers  which  he  gave.  On 
being  asked  how  old  he  was,  he  answered  three  hundred  years. 
His  crime  was  variously  reported ;  some  said  he  was  sent  there  by  his 
relations  for  violent  behaviour  to  his  father;  others,  as  being  a  spend- 
thrift ;  and  Mr.  Leganger  said,  as  being  mad.  A  pretty  govern- 
ment this,  where  a  man  is  shut  up  for  his  whole  life,  and  three  or 
,  four  different  reasons  given  for  his  imprisonment,  all  equally  uncer- 
tain !  He  is  of  a  good  family,  the  son  of  an  admiral,  and  was  him- 
self, when  first  confined,  a  lieutenant  in  the  navy ;  at  present  he  is 
possessed  of  considerable  property,  and  has  a  comfortable  allow- 
ance made  him  in  prison.  Mr.  Knudtzen  has  long  since  been  em- 
powered to  release  him,  but  he  steadily  refuses  to  return  to  a  world 
which  has  so  long  forgotten  him.  Munkholm  fortress  is  in  bad 
order ;  its  governor  is  a  very  old  and  infirm  man,  who  expressed  a 
wish  merely  to  live  to  see  some  projected  alterations  brought  to 
bear.  We  were  shown  a  chamber  where  one  Grippenfeldt,  a  mi- 
nister of  state,  was  confined  many  years  under  a  false  accusation, 


MUSEUM— LIBRARY.  71 

and  they  pretend  to  point  out  the  place  worn  by  his  finger  in  a  chai' 
stone  table,  round  which  he  constantly  Avalked.  This  Grippen-  i^^^- 
feldt  was  a  learned  man,  and  had  studied  at  Oxford.     Professor 

,  of  Copenhagen,  mentions  in  his  travels  having  seen  his 

name  on  the  university  books,  and  his  picture  in  the  Bodleian  gal- 
lery. Mr.  Knudtzen's  son,  a  fine  lad  of  nine  or  ten  years  old, 
showed  us  some  cannon  balls,  calling  them  potatoes  for  English- 
men. Four  Dutch  East  Indiamen  were  lying  in  the  Roads,  which 
had  been  driven  in  by  some  English  cruizers  during  the  late  war, 
and  their  cargoes  (in  despair  of  ever  getting  out)  were  consigned 
to  Mr.  Knudtzen. 

"  We  called,  with  Mr.  Knudtzen  on  Mr.  Meirke,  a  merchant 
to  whom  we  had  also  a  letter  of  introduction  from  Mr.  Wolfe. 
We  found  him  amost  valuable  acquaintance,  sensible  and  gentleman- 
like, and  very  hospitable  and  friendly.  In  the  evening  we  saw  the 
museum,  which  adjoins  the  public  hbrary ;  it  is  a  small  square 
room,  containing,  among  antiquities,  minerals,  &c.,  the  bones  of  one 
of  the  ancient  petty  kings  of  Norway,  who  refused  to  submit  to  Harold 
Haarfagre.  They  were  found  in  a  tomb  in  a  small  island  on  the 
coast,  and  corroborate  the  account  given  by  Snoors  Sturleson,  of 
his  having  buried  himself  alive  ;  his  sword  was  found  run  through 
his  body,  as  if  he  had  thrown  himself  on  it  after  he  had  entered  the 
tomb.  We  were  shown  a  sword  which  belonged  to  one  of  Harold's 
principal  attendants ;  the  handle  is  adapted  for  a  very  small  hand 
(I  have  observed  the  same  circumstance  in  other  Saxon,  Danish, 
and  even  Roman  swords)  the  blade  very  broad. 

"  The  library  consists  of  about  thirteen  thousand  volumes, 
well  arranged  in  a  small  room  with  stalls  ;  the  librarian,  Mr.  Helsen, 
is  also  chef  des  mines  at  Roraas ;  his  daughter  had  been  sometime 
betrothed  to  the  under-master  of  the  school,  according  to  the 
Norwegian  custom  of  betrothing  several  years  before  marriage. 
This  was  also  the  case  with  Mr.  Meirke,  who  called  his  intended 
'  ma  fille.^ 

"  Atig.  22d. — We  went  this  morning  with  Mr.  Meirke  and  Mr. 
Thayl,  a  Dutchman,  to  call  on  the  Governor-general  Von  Kraagh, 


72  KIFLE  CORPS  ON  SKATES. 

CHAP,    a  very  fine  old  man,  with  more  of  tlie  manners  of  the  real  '  vielle 
II.  •' 

'^"'^-  cour  than  any  one  I  ever  saw.  His  house  was  built  a  short  time 
ago,  and  is  entirely  composed  of  logs,  which  he  refused  to  have 
either  painted  or  papered,  through  his  zeal  for  the  ancient  customs 
of  Norway ;  it  is  situated  on  an  eminence,  with  an  avenue  prin- 
cipally of  young  oaks,  all  looking  very  sickly,  and  the  grounds 
beautifully  laid  out  in  the  English  manner.  The  Governor's  son, 
Captain  Von  Kraagh,  is  a  great  agriculturist.  We  dined  with  Mr. 
Meirke,  and  spent  the  evening  with  his  mother.  Lady  Lewson, 
where  we  met  with  a  large  party,  and  were  amused  by  witnessing 
several  peculiar  traits  of  Norwegian  manners  ;  their  dinners  and 
even  their  suppers  are  served  with  a  profusion,  not  unaccompanied 
with  elegance,  of  which  we  have,  in  England,  no  idea ;  at  the  end 
of  which,  each  guest  rises  and  drinks  the  health  of  the  mistress  of 
the  house ;  they  then  bow  to  each  other  and  to  their  host,  and 
hand  the  ladies  out  of  the  room. 

Among  the  party  at  supper  was  Colonel  Bang,  the  Com- 
mandant of  the  rifle  corps  of  the  northern  division  of  Norway ; 
two  companies  of  from  three  to  four  hundred  men,  are  always 
stationed  in  the  Trondheim  district,  and  as  many  at  Roraas,  all 
selected  from  the  miners  at  the  latter  place,  and  are  drilled  in  the 
usual  manner ;  two  battalions  of  about  six  hundred  men,  stationed 
in  the  north  and  south  of  Norway,  are  drilled  in  the  winter  on 
skates  ;  these  men  are  only  called  out  twice  a  year,  but  they 
have  frequent  private  drills  for  recruits.  When  they  exercise 
in  skates  they  have  their  rifles  slung,  and  carry  a  staff"  in  their 
hands,  flattened  at  the  end  to  prevent  its  sinking  into  the  snow, 
and  to  assist  them  in  the  leaps  they  are  sometimes  compelled  to 
take  when  going  down  hill,  which  we  were  told  they  do  with  great 
rapidity,  over  such  obstacles  as  obstruct  their  progress.  The  only 
difference  in  their  method  of  drawing  up  is,  that  in  winter  they 
allow  between  the  files  room  to  turn  in  the  skates,  which  they  do 
by  changing  the  right  foot  by  an  extraordinary  motion,  which 
would  seem  enough  to  dislocate  the  ancle.  We  examined  a  pair 
of  these  skates ;  they  are  not  above  six  or  eight  inches  broad,  and 


LEER  FOSSE  X.  73 

of  different  lengths,  that  worn  on  the  left  foot  being  from  seven  to     chap. 
nine  feet  long,  the  other  not  more  than  four  or  five,  and  chiefly      ""'^- 
used  as  a  means  of  directing  the  other. 

"  Aug.  24:th. — We  saw  the  city  train-band  reviewed  by  the 
general ;  a  perfect  burlesque,  worse  than  the  worst  volunteers  ever 
were,  or  ever  will  be;  they  were  armed  with  rusty  musquets,  and 
long  three-edged  swords,  and  wore  cocked  hats,  with  long  blue 
coats  like  our  bell-men  or  town-criers ;  they  are  only  called  out 
once  a  year. 

"Aug.  25th. — Captain  Von  Kraagh  took  us  this  morning  to 
see  the  two  cascades  of  Leer  Fossen,  formed  by  the  river  Nid,  on  his 
father's  estate ;  they  are  very  noble  waterfalls,  but  I  do  not  think 
the  fall  is  so  much  as  ninety  feet,  which  they  are  both  said  to  be. 
The  governor  has  engravings  of  them,  which  give  a  very  inadequate 
idea  of  their  grandeur ;  he  told  me  that  he  found  great  difficulty 
in  procuring  an  engraver.  Very  extensive  sawing  mills  are  erected 
on  the  side  of  one  of  these  cascades,  which  act  on  the  principle  of 
a  spinning  wheel ;  there  is  a  salmon  fishery  at  the  other  fall.  We 
dined  at  the  governor's,  where  we  met  a  large  party,  all  in  uniform. 
The  governor  told  me  that  agriculture  had  been  improving  very 
rapidly  of  late  years  in  Norway  ;  wheat  will  only  thrive  in  very 
sheltered  situations,  but  barley  and  oats  come  to  great  perfection  ; 
potatoes  were  first  introduced  by  the  governor,  who  imported  some 
hundred  tons,  and  distributed  them  gratis  to  the  peasantry ;  they 
are  now  become  a  common  article  of  consumption.  About  Trond- 
heim  all  kinds  of  vegetables  come  to  great  perfection  ;  but,  gene- 
rally speaking,  the  edible  vegetables  of  the  country  are  few : 
berries  of  several  sorts,  such  as  cranberries,  wortleberris,  multi- 
berries,  (a  fruit  not  very  unlike  a  mulberry,  which  grows  in  bogs  on 
a  creeping  plant  resembling  saxifrage)  strawberries,  and  mountain- 
ash  berries  are  in  common  use  and  much  eaten  with  meat ;  when- 
ever they  appear  on  a  table,  you  may  be  sure  that  a  joint  of  meat 
is,  sooner  or  later,  to  make  its  appearance. 

"  On  the  evening  of  the  25th  we  left  Trondheim  much  gratified 
with  the  hospitality  and  kindness  which  we  had  received  ;  the  grand 

VOL.  I.  L 


74  RORAAS  COPPER-MINES. 


CHAP,  baillie,  Mr.  Angell,  furnished  us,  in  a  very  obliging  manner,  with 
1805.  passjDorts.  The  first  part  of  our  journey  was  on  the  same  road  by 
which  we  had  entered  the  town.  At  Malhvms  we  saw  the  rich  pea- 
sant whose  plate  we  had  admired  so  much  ;  but  his  appearance 
very  little  accorded  with  his  wealth ;  he  was  a  miserable  dirty  fellow, 
perfectly  drunk.  Drunkenness  is  a  very  prevailing  vice  among  the 
Norwegian  peasantry,  and  is  generally  made  a  part  of  their  recre- 
ation on  Sundays  and  other  festivals.  St.  John's  day  is  one  of 
their  principal  festivals.  Mr.  Knudtzen,  junior,  kindly  insisted  on 
accompanying  us  to  Roraas ;  he  travelled  in  a  gig  without  springs, 
but  resting  on  long  pliable  shafts  of  birch.  We  passed  a  beautiful 
but  savage  country  through  Bogen,  Singsaas,  and  Hoff,  through 
roads  rendered  scarcely  passable  by  the  constant  carriage  of  cop- 
per from  Roraas,  which  is  conveyed  in  one-horse  carts  with  a 
driver  to  each.  We  had  hoped  to  reach  this  latter  place  on  the 
26th,  but  were  benighted,  and  slept  at  a  cottage,  the  habitation  of 
a  deaf  and  dumb  woman. 

"  Aug.  21th. — We  arrived  at  Roraas,  and  were  lodged  and 
hospitably  entertained  by  the  deputy  superintendant  of  the  mines. 
Mr.  Knoph,  the  inspector  of  the  mines,  took  us  over  a  desolate 
stony  heath  to  the  Storvatz  mine,  which  was  one  of  the  first  dis- 
covered. From  this  mine  thirty  thousand  shippimds  of  copper 
ore  are  annually  taken,  which  produce,  in  money,  from  twelve  to 
thirteen  thousand  dollars  ;  each  shipjnmd  is  equal  to  three  hun- 
dred and  twenty  Norway  pounds,  and  three  shippunds  and  a  half 
make  a  ton.  The  descent  mto  this  mine  is  so  gradual,  that  horses 
in  carts  go  with  ease  the  whole  way.  Its  length  is  about  a 
third  of  an  English  mile.  The  different  chambers  are  large  and 
airy,  and  with  the  help  of  the  torches  carried  by  our  guides,  we 
were  able  to  obtain  a  very  accurate  idea  of  the  courses  of  the 
copper  veins.  The  miners  were  blasting  the  rock  in  various 
places,  the  noise  occasioned  by  which  struck  me  as  being  much 
exaggerated  by  travellers. 

"  On  our  return  we  saw  the  founderies  where  the   ore  is 
smelted.     About  seven  hundred  persons  are  employed  at  these 


FINNS.  75 

forges ;  the  wages  of  an  ordinary  workman  are  from  three  to  six     chap. 


11. 


dollars  a  month,  and  of  a  smelter  eight.  Charcoal  is  principally  '"os. 
used  in  the  works,  and  the  annual  consumption  is  30,000  last,  or 
360,000  ton.  These  smelting-houses  are  near  the  town.  Roraas 
is  situated  on  the  side  of  a  hill,  at  the  junction  of  the  rivers  Haa 
and  Hittre ;  it  is  of  a  good  size,  with  spacious  streets  and  com- 
fortable houses  ;  the  Church  is  large  and  handsome,  but  the  steeple 
is  disfigured  by  being  painted  like  an  undertaker's  card.  There 
are  several  family  burying  places,  and  one  public  vault  open  to 
any  one,  and  perfectly  accessible,  there  being  no  lock  on  the  door ; 
we  looked  down  into  it  and  saw  a  great  many  coffins.  There  is  a 
depot  of  arms  in  the  town  and  two  old  cannon. 

"  From  the  mines  we  went  on  to  see  a  colony  of  Finns  settled 
in  the  neighbourhood  ;  we  rode  about  a  Norwegian  mile  and  a  half 
to  the  banks  of  the  lake  Oresund,  where  we  embarked  in  a  leaky 
boat,  in  very  bad  weather  for  a  voyage  of  a  similar  length ;  we 
reached  Brehhe  that  evening,  a  small  village  containing  seven 
families  of  about  thuty  persons  ;  it  is  situated  in  a  very  bleak 
neighbourhood,  but  not  altogether  ill  adapted  for  pasturage.  The 
summers  are  here  very  short,  and  the  winters  extremely  severe, 
with  snow  often  lying  higher  than  a  man's  head.  There  are  many 
wolves  but  no  bears.  We  slept  on  boards  covered  with  deer 
skins. 

"  Aug.  28th. — Continued  our  expedition  over  some  of  the 
most  desolate  country  we  have  yet  seen,  of  rock  mixed  with  rotten 
bog ;  the  rock  covered  with  lichen,  and  the  bog  with  multiberries ; 
here  and  there  we  saw  woods  of  miserable  birch,  and  fi*equent  pools 
and  small  lakes.  A  snow-storm  overtook  us  as  we  crossed  this  dreary 
region,  and  we  suffered  much  from  the  cold.  A  group  of  reindeer 
appeared  amid  the  rocks,  snuffing  the  air  strongly,  and  thrusting 
out  their  noses.  At  length  we  arrived  at  a  Finn's  tent,  made  exactly 
like  a  Terra  del  Fuego  wigwam,  of  boughs  of  trees  and  sods,  with 
here  and  there  a  skin.  The  family  received  us  very  hospitably,  and 
gave  us  rein-deer  cheese  and  milk ;  it  consisted  of  about  eight  per- 
sons, including  two  servants.     One  old  man  of  seventy-eight,  who 

L   2 


76  FINNS:— REIN  DEER. 

CHAP,  appeared  to  be  the  father  of  the  famil)^  was  perfectly  blind ;  dis- 
1805.  orders  in  the  eyes  appeared  general  among  them,  probably  owing 
"  to  the  smoke  in  which  they  live.  Their  herd  of  rein-deer  consisted 
of  about  five  hundred  :  the  mistress  said  they  had  formerly  a  much 
o-reater  number,  but  the  Swedes,  during  the  late  difference,  robbed 
her  of  982  deer,  and  reduced  their  family  for  some  time  to  absolute 
famine.  The  dogs  are  not  larger  than  a  common  terrier,  and  of  a  sin- 
gular appearance ;  excepting  in  size,  they  are  the  counterpart  of  the 
Greenland  or  Kamtschatkan  dog.  There  are  fifteen  of  these  Finnish 
families  in  the  neighbourhood  of  Roraas,  and  ten  near  Tolgen,  who 
live  in  tents,  and  intermarry  among  themselves.  They  have  lately 
made  themselves  obnoxious  to  the  farmers  by  injuring  their  mea- 
dows, and  are  threatened  with  expulsion.  The  men  do  not  reach 
much  higher  than  the  elbow  of  a  common-sized  Englishman  ;  in 
their  dress  the  ancient  costume  is  rather  mingled  with  that  of  their 
neighbours,  though  their  shoes,  gaiters,  breeches,  and  long  coats 
are  all  deer-skin,  and  of  their  own  making.  They  are  all  able  to 
read.  Their  mode  of  milking  the  rein-deer  is  singular ;  they  first 
catch  it  by  throwing  a  noose  round  the  horns,  then  give  it  a  blow 
on  the  loins,  on  which  the  animal  iimiiediately  lifts  up  its  leg,  and 
the  Finns,  being  so  dwarfish  a  race,  milk  it  standing. 

"  A  considerable  resemblance  is  said  to  exist  between  the 
Finnish  and  Chinese  languages,  and  the  similarity  in  their  counte- 
nances is  very  striking.  A  Dutch  officer  told  Mr.  Knoph  that  he 
talked  Chinese  to  a  Finn  for  a  considerable  time  before  the  latter 
discovered  that  he  was  not  speaking  Finnish,  though  he  could  not 
understand  what  was  said  to  him.  We  returned  to  Roraas  in  the 
afternoon,  round  the  head  of  the  lake  Oresund,  over  a  very  desolate 
country,  with  scarcely  any  inhabitants. 

"  Aug.  29th. — Left  Roraas,  and  passed  over  an  uninterest- 
ing country  till  we  arrived  at  Agre,  where  it  again  became  beau- 
tiful and  rather  more  fertile. 

"Aug.  SOth. — Our  journey  this  day  led  us  over  a  very  rich 
and  beautiful  country.  Grundset,  where  we  slept,  is  kept  by  a  man 
who  was  formerly  clerk  to  Mr.  Anker.     Mr.  Anker  has  a  house 


KONGSWINGER.  77 

near  it,  and  he  and  Mr.  Rosencrantz  possess  very  extensive  chap. 
forests  in  the  neighbourhood.  We  were  struck  by  the  remarkable  i^os. 
neatness  and  cleanhness  of  the  cottages  and  farm-houses.  The 
dress  of  the  peasantry  here  is  rather  different  from  that  worn  in 
other  parts  of  Norway,  particularly  in  the  caps,  which  are  gene- 
rally made  of  red  or  blue  woollen.  We  observed  every  where  the 
skulls  of  bears  and  wolves,  both  of  which  are  common  in  this  neish- 
bourhood,  and  the  former  very  dangerous.  I  heard  of  an  animal 
being  occasionally  found  here,  which  I  imagine,  from  the  descrip- 
tion given  of  it  by  the  natives,  to  be  the  lynx,  though  some  circum- 
stances might  seem  to  mark  it  for  the  glutton.  There  are  but  few 
traces  of  devastation  caused  by  torrents  in  Osterdal,  and  those  not 
so  terrible  as  the  vestiges  of  a  Gulbrandsdal  stream. 

"  Aug.  ^\st. — We  reached  Kongswinger  through  a  continu- 
ation of  the  same  sort  of  country ;  it  was  late  when  we  arrived, 
and  the  family  were  all  gone  to  bed  ;  but,  as  usual  in  Norway,  the 
house  door  was  open,  and  without  any  fastenings. 

"  The  next  morning  we  walked  through  the  town  of  Kongs- 
winger, which  we  found  clean  and  neat ;  it  has  a  castle  with  a  small 
garrison,  consisting  partly  of  fusileers ;  a  light  company  of  about 
thirty-six  men  was  in  the  act  of  being  drilled  as  we  passed ;  the 
men  were  slovenly  and  irregular,  and  seemed  to  be  chiefly  exercised 
in  the  duties  of  sentry,  patrole,  &c. ;  their  arms  were  rifles,  with 
large  cut-and-thrust  swords ;  the  officer  who  commanded  them 
had  the  best  way  of  giving  his  oi-ders  I  ever  saw. 

"We  left  Norway  this  evening,  and  slept  at  Strund,  a  tolerable 
house  on  the  Swedish  frontier.  Norway  is  generally  estimated  to 
contain  nine  thousand  square  German  miles.  It  may  be  said  to  be 
naturally  divided  by  the  different  ranges  of  mountains,  which  inter- 
sect each  other  at  Dovre.  Fin  Fiald,  which  divides  it  from  Sweden, 
is  probably  the  highest  range ;  between  this  range  and  the  central 
chain  is  the  valley  of  Oesterdal,  a  very  rich  and  beautiful  tract, 
through  which  the  Glomm  runs  to  Friderickshall.  The  central  valley, 
watered  by  the  Mioss  and  Randa  lakes,  with  their  tributary  streams, 
all  which  fall  into  the  bay  of  Christiania,  is  that  of  Hedermarken. 


78  PRODUCTIONS  OF  NORWAY. 

CHAP.  The  south-west  district  or  province  of  Christiansund  is  of  a  very  dif- 
1805.  ferent  appearance  ;  though  movuitainous,  it  is  fertile,  with  a  chmate 
so  temperate  as  to  admit  of  the  growth  of  oak  timber.  These  three 
districts  compose  the  southern  and  most  valuable  part  of  Norway. 
The  province  of  Bergen  consists,  as  we  were  told,  of  wild  mountains 
and  innumerable  fiords  and  lakes ;  neither  the  province  nor  its 
capital  seem  to  be  much  known  to  the  inhabitants  of  the  southern 
district.  Bergen  is  said  to  be  chiefly  peopled  by  foreigners,  who 
have  settled  there  for  the  purpose  of  trading  in  the  fish  brought 
from  the  northern  parts  of  the  coast.  The  province  of  Trondheim 
is  chiefly  formed  of  beautiful  narrow  valleys,  fiords,  and  mountain 
streams.  The  soil  of  the  country  is,  as  may  be  expected,  not 
generally  very  fertile,  though  in  favourable  situations  it  is  rich,  and 
bears  a  high  rent  and  price.  Its  chief  vegetable  production  is 
timber.  Towards  the  north  it  diminishes  much  in  size,  and  on  the 
high  mountains  fir  will  not  thrive ;  the  birch  is  more  hardy,  and 
grows  to  a  prodigious  size.  The  fir  is  of  two  sorts,  white  and 
red ;  the  latter  of  which  is  considered  the  most  valuable.  The 
longest  and  best  deals  are  all  shipped  for  England,  and  the  shorter 
ones  are  sent  to  Ireland  and  France ;  the  duty  levied  being,  in 
England,  on  the  numher,  and  in  the  latter  countries  on  the  size  of 
the  planks.  The  white  fir,  inferior  as  it  is  to  the  red  for  general 
purposes,  is  sometimes  preferred  to  it,  as  being  less  liable  to 
shrink.  No  trade  is  carried  on  in  timber  between  England  and 
Trondheim. 

"  In  valuable  minerals  Norway  is  by  no  means  rich,  except  in 
the  neighbourhood  of  Roraas ;  the  silver  mine  at  Kongsberg  is 
abandoned  as  not  paying  its  own  expenses.  Its  animal  produc- 
tions are  very  numerous;  the  domestic  ones  are  of  the  same 
species  as  those  of  Holstein,  and  not  very  different  from  the  same 
class  in  Yorkshire.  Bears,  wolves,  and  the  animal  which  I  take  to 
be  the  lynx,  are  all  found,  though  the  latter  are  uncommon.  Game 
is  of  course  very  plentiful  in  the  wilder  parts  of  the  country,  but 
much  thinned  towards  the  south  ;  game  laws  are  unknown  in  the 
north;  hares,  the  chase  of  which  forms  the  principal  sport,  are  less 


PRODUCTIONS  OF  NORWAY..  79 


abundant,  I  think,  than  in  England.  The  uro  galkis  by  all  accounts  chap. 
is  not  very  plentiful.  The  lemmings  I  have  mentioned.  Of  the  eagle  isos- 
we  heard  but  little  ;  the  large  horned  owl  is  often  found,  but  not  a 
very  common  bird  ;  its  plumage  is  remarkably  beautifvU.  On  the 
Fiallds,  a  bird  is  found  about  the  size  of  a  pemt,  of  a  bright  lemon- 
colour.  In  winter  it  is  a  very  common  occupation  of  the  peasants 
to  kill  immense  quantities  of  game  on  the  Dovre  and  other  moun- 
tains, and  send  them  down  to  Christiania  and  Trondheim,  at  which 
season  it  is  excessively  cheap.  Snakes  of  a  large  size  are  not  un- 
frequent,  and  Thornton  found  one  as  we  were  climbing  Dovre, 
similar  to  the  blue  and  white  one  of  England. 

"  The  breed  of  horses  is  good,  and  in  their  natural  state  they 
are  able  to  defend  themselves  resolutely  against  wolves ;  in  the  sum- 
mer they  live  on  the  mountains,  and  are  brought  down  in  autumn 
for  sale  into  the  valleys,  where  they  may  often  be  bought  cheap. 
The  wolf-dog  of  Sweden  is  uncommon,  if  not  unknown  ;  nor  are 
the  Norway  dogs  at  all  distinguished  from  those  of  England.  The 
rein-deer  are  universally  known. 

"  Whales  are,  I  apprehend,  rarely  thrown  on  the  coast,  if  one 
may  judge  from  the  extravagance  of  the  lies  told  of  one  which  was 
caught  while  we  were  at  Trondheim.  The  method  of  fishing,  as 
well  as  of  bird-catching,  is  by  night,  with  lights,  nets,  and  spears. 
By  what  I  observed  at  Trondheim,  I  should  imagine  that  it  was 
on  cod,  not  herring,  that  the  principal  subsistence  of  the  inhabit- 
ants depended.  The  cod  is  distinguished  as  being  either  dried  in 
the  air,  or  salted  on  the  rocks  ;  the  first  is  called  stock-fish,  the 
other  klipfiska. 

"  It  must  be  observed,  that  the  Norwegian  domestic  animals 
have  been  much  improved  by  crossing  theu-  breeds  with  those  of 
England.  We  saw  a  very  fine  English  setter  for  sale  in  the  mar- 
ket-place at  Trondheim." 


CHAPTER   III. 


STRUND   TO    PETERSBURG. 


Upmla — Br.  Afzel'ms  —  Dannemora  mines  —  Stockholm — Charles  XII. — Gnlf  of 
Bothnia — Abo — Finnish  peasantry — Agriculture — Superstitions — Unpopularity 
of  the  king  of  Sweden — Petersburg — General  ajjpearance  of  the  Russians  — 
Character — Food — Maimers — Houses — Winter  amusements — Sledges  and  car- 
riages— Titeatres —  Greek  Clergy — The  Taurida — Tlie  great  palace — Popularity 
of  the  Emperor — His  character  and  appearance. 

To  Richard  Heher,  Esq. 

Stockholm,  September  14. 
CHAP.  "  We  arrived  here  this  morning,  and  after  so  long  an  ignorance 
1805.  of  all  relating  to  our  friends  or  our  country,  I  need  not  mention  the 
pleasure  with  which  we  caught  hold  of  our  packets  of  letters. . . . 
Excepting  Upsala  and  Dannemora,  our  journey  has  taken  in  nothing 
very  remarkable,  and  concerning  Norway,  the  memorabilia  are  too 
numerous  for  a  letter,  and  must  be  reserved  for  our  future  conver- 
sations. In  general,  it  may  be  said  to  have  an  uninteresting  shell, 
with  one  of  the  richest  and  most  beautiful  kernels  in  the  world. 
The  neighbourhood  of  Friderickshall  is  certainly  striking,  but  far 
inferior  in  beauty  to  the  romantic  descriptions  and  drawings  which 
I  have  seen  of  it;  and  the  people,  who  affect  to  despise  the  Swedes, 
fall  far  short  of  them  both  in  civilization  and  honesty.  The  west- 
ern coast,  Bergen,  Christiansund,  &c.,  we  did  not  see;  by  all 
accounts,  the  manners  are  almost  as  wild,  and  the  country  quite  as 
savage,  as  in  the  neighbouring  regions  of  Labrador  and  Greenland. 
Yet  hence  the  wealth  of  Norway  is  chiefly  derived  ;  and  the  innu- 
merable ^ort/*,  and  sunds,  which  intersect  the  country,  while  they 


VESSELS  LADEN  WITH  FISH.  81 

separate  the  people  from  all  commerce  with  the  interior,  supply  chap. 
almost  the  entire  Mediterranean  with  fish,  and  are  the  means  of  ^"Q^- 
accumulating  very  considerable  wealth  to  individuals  and  the 
government.  I  saw  some  of  these  vessels  loaded,  and  it  was  a  very 
singular  sight ;  they  were  filled  up  not  only  to  the  hatchways,  but 
even  half  up  the  mast ;  and  the  captain  had  literally  formed  a  bur- 
row for  his  bed  with  fish  packed  all  round  him.  This  was  at 
Trondheim  ;  at  Christiansund  every  thing  stinks  of  cod  and  her- 
ring, the  refuse  of  which  is  the  usual  and  almost  the  only  fodder  for 
their  cattle.  A  cow  will  make  a  luxurious  meal  of  stinking  salmon  ; 
and  you  may  conceive  how  delightful,  in  this  country,  is  the  halmy 
breath  of  a  heifer.  The  cattle  are  soon  fattened  on  this  food, 
but  acquire  an  unmanageable  ferocity,  and  theu'  natm-e  is  totally 
changed. 

"  The  formidable  mountains  towards  Sweden  present  a  terri- 
ble scene  of  cold  and  barrenness.  At  Roraas,  where  are  their 
prmcipal  copper-mines,  no  corn  or  garden-stuff  wdll  groAv,  and  in 
A\inter  quicksilver  is  frozen.  We  staid  here  a  day  or  two,  and  went 
a  day's  jom'ney  into  the  mountains  in  quest  of  a  small  tribe  of 
Laplanders,  or  Finns,  as  the  Danes  call  them,  who  have  been,  time 
immemorial,  wanderers  in  this  neighboiu-hood.  In  the  valleys  we 
had  been  tormented  by  heat,  but  in  this  inhospitable  tract  it  snowed 
fast,  and  probably  does  so  occasionally  through  the  whole  summer. 
The  fir-trees  were  no  longer  visible,  and  all  the  wood  that  remained 
was  some  stunted  birch  in  the  sheltered  sitviations  ;  at  last  these, 
too,  disappeared,  and  nothing  was  seen  but  rotten  bog,  and  rocks 
covered  wnth  lichen,  a  white  mealy  moss,  which  has  more  the 
appearance  of  a  leprosy  than  a  pasture.  In  short,  I  could  easily 
conceive  how  a  Swedish  army,  in  the  time  of  Charles  Xllth.  had 
been  entirely  destroyed  by  the  cold  in  an  attempt  to  cross  these 
texxWAe  Jielles,  (fells,)  and  was  not  a  little  glad  to  warm  myself  in 
the  miserable  \\-igwam  of  the  people  of  whom  we  were  in  quest. 
Their  huts  are  exactly  resembling  those  of  the  Tchutski,  given  in 
Cook's  last  voyage,  but  are  neither  so  large  nor  so  high ;  and  they 
still  preserve  their  race,  language,  and  dress  unmingled  vAt\\  those 

VOL.  I.  M 


82  LAWS  IN  NORWAY. 

CHAP,  of  their  neighbours,  from  whom  they  also  differ  very  remarkably  in 
'^"^-  person,  being  much  shorter,  with  round  faces,  and  wide  mouths. 
Their  dress  is  generally  made  of  sheepskin,  with  the  wool  turned 
inward.  We  di-ank  rein-deers'  milk,  and  stored  ourselves  with 
sufficient  venison  for  our  joiu'ney  into  Sweden.  For  a  bottle  of 
brandy  and  a  rix-dollar  they  were  so  grateful  that  they  would  wil- 
lingly have  loaded  us  with  a  whole  buck.  Before  this  expedition 
we  had  intended  to  sell  the  carriage,  and  to  go  on  horseback  over 
the  mountains  to  Faklun ;  but  we  were  now  satisfied  that  we  should 
gain  no  time  by  such  a  species  of  nearest  way. 

"  Yet  in  spite  of  this  inhospitable  frontier,  the  interior  of 
Norway  is  a  most  delightful  and  interesting  covmtry.  Hedermarken, 
Gulbrandsdale,  Trondheim  and  Oesterdal,  would  hardly  give  up 
the  palm  of  beauty  and  fertihty  to  the  finest  valleys  of  Wales  and 
Cumberland ;  and  the  appearance  of  comfort,  and  even  wealth,  in 
the  cottages  of  the  peasants,  is,  as  a  general  characteristic,  far  be- 
yond any  thing  of  the  kind  in  our  own  country.  I  was  sm-prised, 
at  first,  at  the  great  apparent  liberty  of  all  classes ;  but  soon  found 
reason  to  attribute  the  mildness  of  their  government  to  the  weak- 
ness of  the  ruling  nation,  and  the  circumstance  that  every  peasant 
in  Norway  is  armed  and  disciplined. 

"  There  are,  however,  many  injurious  laws,  of  which  the  prin- 
cipal is  the  distinction  apparent  between  the  peasants  and  burgh- 
ers. They  are  completely  distinct  castes  ;  the  peasant  may  grow 
rich,  but  his  son,  by  the  obligation  of  military  service,  is  precluded 
from  all  elevation  of  rank,  and  remains  as  plain  and  ignorant  as  his 
father.  There  are,  however,  no  doubt,  many  advantages  which 
result  from  this  state  of  society ;  and  if  it  were  not  for  the  frosts  of 
winter,  the  torrents  of  spring,  and  the  lemmings  of  autumn,  few 
people  would  be  so  happy  as  a  Norwegian  peasant.  These  two 
last  plagues  are  peculiar  to  the  country ;  we  past  by  whole  farms 
which  the  mountain  torrents,  from  the  melted  snow,  had  deso- 
lated ;  they  were  covered  with  large  stones,  as  thick  as  the 
shingly  part  of  the  sea-coast,  and  not  a  blade  of  grass  could  be 
seen.     Of  the  lemming,  you  will  find  an  accurate,  though  rather 


LANGUAGE.  gS 


exaggerated,  account  in  '  Bewick's  Quadrupeds  ;'  they  descend  at    chap. 
uncertain  periods  from  the  mountains,  where  we  saw  great  num-      1805. 
bers,  as  large  as  Httle  rats,  of  a  dun  colour,  with  three  black  stripes 
on  their  back.     They  are  a  plague  little  inferior  to  a  swarm  of 
locusts.     With  these  drawbacks,  you  ^v^ll  not  wonder  that,  not- 
withstanding their  rich  soil  and  delightful  summers,   the   corn  of 
Norway  is,  in  a  great  measure,  imported  from  England.     Their 
cultivation  is,  however,  rapidly  improving,  and  the  late  introduc- 
tion of  potatoes  by  General  Von  Kraagh,  has  already  caused  a  pro- 
digious alteration  in  their  comforts.     The  principal  apprehension 
at  present  arises  from  the  too  rapid  destruction  of  their  forests,  to 
the  existence  of  which  they  attribute,  with  apparent  reason,  the 
superior  mildness  of  their  climate  to  countries  under  the  same  lati- 
tude.    Their  timber-trees  are  entirely  fir,  and,  I  think,  inferior  in 
size  to  those  of  Sweden.     The  larch  has  been  introduced,  and 
thrives  well.     Bears  and  wolves  are  still  common ;  the  first  only 
are  objects  of  apprehension  to  a  man ;  they  are  brown,  and  as  big 
as  a  moderate  calf     In  Oesterdal  few  barns  are  without  some  of 
their  skulls  nailed  up  as  trophies. 

"  Tell I  have  not  been  able  to  get  her  any  yellow  hair ; 

in  truth,  there  is  very  little  to  be  had :  the  hair  is  almost  univer- 
sally flaxen  or  light  brown,  and  the  complexions,  figure,  and  very 
accent  of  the  people  are  almost  entirely  English.  Their  songs,  of 
which  I  contrived  to  collect  a  few,  are  in  the  same  measure,  and 
frequently  almost  in  the  same  language  as  the  old  English  ;  and 
many  apparent  diiferences  only  arise  from  the  vile  system  of  spell- 
ing, which  the  Danish  Government  has  introduced  to  make  it  dif- 
ferent from  Swedish.  The  genius  of  the  language,  however,  cer- 
tainly differs  from  ours,  and  we  must,  I  think,  have  got  our  gram- 
mar from  some  quarter  distinct  from  Scandinavia.  An  Enghsh- 
man,  nevertheless,  particularly  if  he  knows  any  thing  of  Yorkshire, 
will  hardly  mistake  their  meaning  when  he  hears  of  a  '  bra  bairn,' 
an  '  ox  stek,'  a  '  kalf  stek,'  when  he  is  told  '  sitta  dere,'  or  '  ga  til 
kirchen ;'  a  '  skort  simmer,'  a  '  cald  whiter,'  '  snee,'  *  swerd,'  and 
ten  thousand  other  words  are  equally  similar. 

M  2 


84  DANISH  SONG. 

CHAP.  "  I  enclose  the  literal  translation  of  a  fragment  of  a  popular 

1805.      Danish  song  which  I  happened  to  see  : 


King  Christian  stood  beside  the  mast, 

In  smoky  night ; 
His  falchion  fell  like  hammer  fast, 
And  brains  and  helms  asmider  brast ; 
Then  sunk  each  hostile  huU  and  mast 

In  smoky  night ; 
Fly,  fly  !  they  shrieked — what  mortal  man 
Can  strive  with  Denmai'k's  Christian 

In  fight  ? 

Niels  Juel  raised  a  warrior  cry, 

"  Now,  now's  the  day  !" 
He  hoisted  up  the  red  flag  high. 
And  dashed  amidst  the  enemy 
With  blow  on  blow,  and  cry  on  cry, 

"  Now,  now's  the  day  !" 
And  still  they  shrieked — "  fly,  Sweden,  fly  ! 
When  Juel  comes,  what  strength  shall  tiy 

The  fray  ?" 

*  *  *  * 


"  Though  the  Norwegians  rather  pride  themselves  on  their 
aflfinity  to  England,  I  do  not  think  our  nation  is  popular.  Mr.  Pitt 
is  most  cordially  hated  both  in  Norway  and  Sweden.  We  our- 
selves, however,  experienced  the  greatest  hospitality  from  every 
quarter ;  to  Mr.  Rosencrantz  of  Hafstun,  near  Friderickshall,  Gene- 
ral Von  Kraagh,  and  the  society  of  Trondheim  in  general,  we  have 

very  particular  obUgations. 

*  *  *  *  * 

"  The  road  through  Sweden,  from  Koningsberg  to  Upsala, 
lay  through  a  flat  well-cultivated  country,  which  had  nothing  to 
distinguish  it  from  Leicestershire,  or  any  other  country  of  the 
same  sort,  except  the  rockiness  of  the  soil.  Our  route  from  Got- 
tenburg  to  Norway  had  given  us  a  very  false  idea  of  the  general 
appearance  of  the  country.     Sweden  may  be  compared,  in  general. 


UPSALA— CATHEDRAL.  85 

to  a  marble  table  covered  Avith  baize  :  it  is  level  indeed  and  green,    char 

I"- 
but  the  veil  is  thin,  and  every  here  and  there  the  stone  peeps      '»'"^- 

through  the  cracks  of  its  covering.  Farming  is  well  understood, 
and  the  soil,  though  very  light,  is  not  unproductive.  In  this,  as 
in  every  thing  else,  we  have  detected  the  perfect  falsehood  of 
Wraxall's  statements,  and,  I  think,  the  general  fidelity  of  Coxe. 
Carlstad,  and  most  of  the  other  towns  on  our  route,  contain  nothing 
worthy  of  notice.  At  Westeraes  is  a  small  Cathedral,  with  many 
tombs  of  kings  and  great  men.  At  Upsala  we  passed  two  days, 
and  saw  every  thing  of  note  in  this  northern  Athens.  There 
is  a  very  respectable  library,  and  a  noble  building  as  a  green-house 
and  museum,  built  by  Gustavus  the  Third,  of  which  the  prin- 
cipal portico  is  Doric,  very  remarkable  for  its  proportion  and 
beauty. 

The  botanical  garden  is  like  that  of  Trinity,  only  much  larger  ; 
of  the  plants  you  know  I  am  perfectly  incompetent  to  judge.  The 
Cathedral  is  well-proportioned,  and  has  been  of  the  best  style  of 
Gothic  in  general ;  plain,  and  not  very  unlike  Westminster  Abbey. 
The  inhabitants  are  very  proud  of  it,  and  have  taken  care  to 
remove  all  the  carved-work  or  tracery  from  the  windows,  to  daub 
the  inside  with  plaister,  and  to  case  the  outside  with  the  very 
reddest  brick  they  could  find.  This,  with  large  white  Doric  cor- 
nices, and  two  bright  blue  things,  like  pepper-boxes,  on  the  two 
towers,  has  so  beautified  it,  that,  if  the  bishop  who  founded  it,  and 
the  mason  who  built  it,  were  to  return  again,  they  would  not  know 
their  own  child  in  its  present  dashing  uniform.  There  are  separate 
houses  for  the  different  professors  and  lecturers,  who  are  numerous, 
but  with  small  salaries ;  those  who  are  in  orders  have  also  pi'ebends. 
We  were  there  in  vacation  time  and  saw  nothing  going  on,  but 
had  a  good  opportunity  of  hearing  all  the  details,  as  we  had  a 
letter  to  the  lecturer  in  botany,  Dr.  Afzelius,  who  was  very  at- 
tentive and  communicative.  The  number  of  students  is  about  one 
thousand  ;  they  wear  their  academical  habits,  which  are  black  with 
scarlet  facings,  only  on  taking  then*  degrees,  holding  acts,  or  the 
like.      Anciently,  the  different  nations  as  they  are  called,  which 


86  DANNEMORA  MINE. 


CHAP,  compose  the  Swedish  monarchy,  the  Ostrogoths,  Westrogoths, 
1805.  Swedes,  Fmns,  and  Vandals,  as  they  call  the  German  provinces, 
had  all  different  uniforms,  which  were  discontinued  on  account  of 
the  animosities  to  which  they  gave  rise.  They  are  still  called 
colleges — have  each  of  them  separate  heads  and  endowments,  but 
have  no  separate  buildings,  and  lodge  and  eat  promiscuously  in 
the  town  ;  there  are  also  riding,  fencing,  and  dancing  schools,  and 
French  and  German  are  taught.  They  have  no  fixed  time  for 
taking  their  bachelor's  degree,  and  consequently  have  no  privileges ; 
their  master's  degree  they  take  at  the  end  of  seven  years. 

"  Dr.  Afzelius  has  been  much  in  England,  and  in  Oxford,  of 
which  place  he  complamed  as  being  less  civilized  than  Cambridge. 
I  wanted  liim  to  state  his  grounds  of  dishke,  but  could  not  succeed 
in  keeping  him  to  the  point. 

"  From  Upsala  we  went  to  Osterby,  the  seat  of  Mr.  Tame, 
one  of  the  proprietors  of  the  Dannemora  mine,  a  ci-devant  noble- 
man, who  resigned  his  title  during  the  disputes  of  the  last  Diet. 
We  found  a  very  hospitable  reception,  and  met  with  a  large  and 
pleasant  party.  The  mines  we  saw,  of  course,  and  I  can  hardly 
express  the  sensations  of  astonishment  they  caused.  All  other 
mines  I  have  seen  are  dark  and  dirty  cellars  in  comparison  ;  here 
it  is  Vathek's  chasm  and  portal  of  ebony  realized.  You  find,  not 
a  dark  and  narrow  shaft  like  a  well,  but  a  mouth  of  an  irregidar 
form,  more,  I  think,  than  two  hundred  yards  long,  and,  in  one 
place,  at  least  eighty  wide.  On  different  parts  of  this  enormous 
gulph  are  the  cranes  and  buckets  by  which  you  are  let  down  to  the 
bottom,  four  hundred  and  eighty  feet ;  the  side  is,  for  about  two 
hundred  feet,  a  smooth  iron  rock  ;  at  length  there  are  other  masses 
which  arise  like  islands,  and  you  see  opening  on  every  side  the 
prodigious  caverns  whence  the  ore  is  taken;  one  of  them  into 
which  we  descended  is  a  vault  higher  for  some  httle  way  than  the 
nave  of  York  minster.  Notwithstanding  the  width  of  the  chasm 
above,  the  rays  of  the  smi  fall  too  obhquely  to  reach  the  bottom, 
which  is  the  region  of  eternal  ice  and  twilight.  We  did  not 
descend  quite  to  the  lowest  part,  as  the  waters  of  the  adjoining 


STOCKHOLM.  87 


lake  had  lately  broken  in ;  to  remove  them  they  have  established  a  chap. 
small  steam  engine,  the  erection  of  which  is  mider  the  superin-  isos. 
tendance  of  a  Yorkshu'eman  of  the  name  of  Owen.  We  afterwards 
learnt  that  there  was  a  small  boat  below,  and  regretted  much  that 
we  had  not  sailed  on  this  '  Stygian  ferry.'  But  what  grieved  us 
most  was,  that  we  had  no  opportunity  of  descending  by  moon-light, 
which,  though  I  never  heard  of  its  bemg  done,  must  be  inconceiv- 
ably noble  ;  the  brightness  of  the  projecting  rocks,  and  the  sea  of 
darkness  below,  must  be  still  more  thrilluig  than  the  descent  by 
day.  By  Wraxall's  account,  as  well  as  those  of  some  other  tourists, 
who  have  great  pleasure  in  describing  then*  own  cowardice,  the 
descent  is  th-essed  out  with  very  exaggerated  terrors  ;  in  fact  the 
ropes  and  chains  are  perfectly  secure.  Accidents  scarcely  hap- 
pen once  in  a  hundred  years.  To  see  others  descend,  and 
to  mark  the  gradual  diminution  of  the  bucket  \\4th  its  cargo,  and 
the  rope,  which  is  at  top  a  cable,  seeming  like  a  packthread  at 
bottom,  is  a  much  severer  trial  of  the  strength  of  one's  head,  and 
what  mine,  indeed,  could  not  have  endured  long. 

"  The  road  to  Stockholm,  which  we  have  lately  traversed,  is 
through  the  same  rocky  green  cultivated  country  as  the  rest  of 
Sweden,  excepting  that  towards  the  capital,  the  appearance  becomes 
more  woody,  uneven,  and  even  romantic.  Nothing,  indeed,  can 
be  more  so  than  the  situation  of  this  extraordinary  town,  which  is 
a  collection  of  rocks  scattered  irregularly  in  a  wide  arm  of  the  sea, 
(or  lake,  call  it  which  you  will)  connected  by  bridges,  covered  with 
buildings  and  gardens,  the  domes  of  Churches  intenningled  with 
oaks,  and  the  whole  surrounded  by  an  enormous  palace,  as  big,  I 
think,  as  five  Somerset  Houses.  It  is,  however,  chiefly  of  brick, 
but  universally  stuccoed  or  white-washed.  The  houses  are  all 
large  and  many-storied,  with  a  common  staircase,  and  a  family  on 
each  floor ;  the  inns  are  as  dirty  and  as  dear,  and  the  landlords  as 
impudent  as  in  any  part  of  the  world ;  the  streets  winding  and 
narrow,  and  not  quite  free  fi-om  the  eifects  of  a  crowded  popula- 
tion and  j9«^M/<^j9e/<;e*.  The  quays,  however,  are  some  of  them 
very  noble,  and  the  public  buildings,  though  mostly  small,  in  good 


88  STOCKHOLM. 


(HAP.  taste.  We  are  unlucky  in  finding  the  town  almost  empty ;  the 
'"oa-  court  is  in  Scania.  Pierrepoint  is  there  too,  and  Bathurst  not 
yet  arrived ;  these  circumstances  will  probably  shorten  our  stay, 
especially  as  we  do  not  hear  a  very  favourable  account  of  the 
society  and  amusements,  which  are  still  more  abridged  by  the 
recent  death  of  the  king's  second  child,  the  young  grand  duke  of 
Finland. 

"...  Since  I  wrote  the  above,  I  have  seen  a  little  more  of 
Stockholm,  having  been  introduced  to  what  is  called  La  Societe, 
which  is  an  establishment  kept  by  a  Frenchman,  consisting  of  an 
eating-house,  gaming-house,  coffee-house,  ball-room,  &c.,  supported 
and  frequented  by  the  foreign  ministers  and  most  of  the  nobility. 
An  introduction  by  a  member  is  necessary,  and  your  name  is  in- 
serted in  a  book ;  after  which  you  have  free  admission,  and  find  a 
very  good  and  reasonable  ordinary,  with  the  best  society  in  Stock- 
holm. No  man  need  game  unless  he  wishes  it.  The  foreign  mi- 
nisters, to  most  of  whom  we  have  been  introduced,  are  some  of 
them  very  sensible  men  ;  I  ought  rather  to  call  them  charges  des 
affaires,  for,  except  the  Austrian,  there  are  no  regular  ambassadors 
now  in  the  town.  The  places  of  public  amusement  are  all  shut 
up,  and  our  principal  employment  is  in  surveying  the  different 
buildings.  We  have  seen  Dronning  Holm,  the  Versailles  of  Swe- 
den, and,  I  should  think,  not  unlike  that  palace  in  miniature  ;  as 
well  as  Haga,  the  favourite  retirement  of  the  late  and  present  king, 
in  a  most  delightful  situation  on  the  banks  of  the  lake ;  the  gardens 
are  prettily  laid  out,  and  the  house  might  serve  as  a  model  for  a 
parsonage. 

"  We  are  just  returned  from  the  arsenal,  as  it  is  called,  which 
is  a  long  room  filled  with,  on  one  side,  vile  wax-work  figiues  of 
their  kings,  like  our  tower,  with  theu  armour  and  trophies  piled 
around  them ;  and,  on  the  other  side  are  hung  the  effeminate  silken 
trappings  and  lacquered  tin  breast-plates  of  the  present  race  of 
Swedish  nobility.  These  last  have  been  used  at  the  ridiculous 
mock  tournaments  celebrated  by  the  late  king.  There  are  prodi- 
gious piles  of  standards  and  other  spoils,  the  fruits  of  the  ancient 


CHARLES  XII.  89 

\'ictories  of  the  Swedes,  chiefly  taken  from  the  Poles,  Saxons,  f^"AP. 
Austrians  and  Russians.  Our  attention  was,  of  coiu-se,  attracted  i®"^- 
by  the  buif  coat  and  breast-plate  of  Gusta^alS  Adolphus,  and  the 
famous  uniform  of  Charles  the  Xllth.  We  were  surprized  to  find 
tliat  this  great  hero  had  been  so  small  and  slight  made  a  man  ;  his 
gloves  and  boots  prove  it  strongly ;  and  neither  Thornton  nor  my- 
self could,  with  all  possible  straining,  have  made  the  coat  button 
over  the  breast ;  Avith  me  it  absolutely  would  scarcely  come  on 
at  all ;  and  the  sleeves  were  also  much  too  short.  The  sword,  how- 
ever, which  is  a  rapier  almost  five  feet  long,  has  sometliing  heroic 
about  it ;  and  there  was  a  standard  just  by  which  Charles  had  taken 
with  his  own  hands  from  a  Saxon  officer. 

"  The  most  interesting  things  we  have  yet  seen  are  the  sta- 
tues, which  are  the  work  of  Sergei,  a  native  artist  who  was  sent 
to  Italy  by  Gustavus  the  Thii-d.  They  are  far  superior  to  any 
wliich  I  have  seen  by  our  Flaxman,  and  this  is  certamly  very  high 
praise. 

"  Dnect  yoiu-  letters  to  Petersburg,  where  we  hope  to  be 
in  another  fortnight.  It  will  be  impossible  to  return  this  winter  ; 
but  you  may  assure  my  mother  that  I  have  no  thoughts  of  Con- 
stantinople, and  even  Moscow  will  depend  on  circumstances.  In 
all  probability,  however,  we  shall  go  in  sledges  from  Petersburg 
thither,  and  so  on  to  Berhn,  where  we  expect  to  arrive  by  the  latter 
end  of  the  ninter.  I  hope  to  be  back  in  good  time  for  the  next 
spring  meeting  of  the  Shropsliire  volunteers. 

"  Pray  make  my  best  thanks  to  Mr.  Bootle  for  his  very  valu- 
able journal,  which  we  have  found  an  excellent  guide  every  where. 
In  Norway  several  persons  enquired  after  him.  At  one  place 
(Krogen)  the  peasants  asked  if  we  knew  him,  and  said  he  was  '  en 
ganska  bra  mand.' " 

To  Mrs.  Heber. 

A 

Abo,  October  I,  1805. 

"  My  dear  friends  at  Hodnet  will  be  glad  to  hear  of  our  safe 
arrival  again  on  the  terra  firma  of  Finland.     We  left  Stockholm 

VOL.  I.  N 


90  GULF  OF  BOTHNIA. 


CHAP,     on  Friday  last,  in  a  fishing  boat,  which  we  were  advised  to  hire  for 


III 


1805.  the  whole  way  in  preference  to  the  numerous  ferries  which  occur 
in  the  post  roads  over  the  isles  of  Aland,  all  of  which  are  attended 
with  delay,  and  some  with  danger.  The  boats  between  Stockholm 
and  Abo  cut  straight  across  the  Gulf  of  Bothnia,  and  generally 
perform  the  voyage  in  two  days ;  they  are  good  sailers,  and  very 
convenient,  having  a  cabin  in  the  middle,  like  an  English  pleasure- 
boat,  where  there  is  room  for  two  decent  beds  ;  our  boat  had  even 
four.  We  had,  at  first,  very  little  wind  ;  and  afterwards  a  violent 
gale  full  in  our  teeth,  so  that  we  are  only  just  arrived.  Our 
voyage,  however,  though  not  a  quick  one,  was  by  no  means  un- 
pleasant, the  weather  being  fine.  Our  course  lay  through  an  innu- 
merable multitude  of  rocks  and  islands,  some  barren,  but  many 
wooded  to  the  very  water's  edge  ;  the  endless  variety  of  their 
forms,  and  the  winding  channels  which  intersected  them,  were 
sometimes  wonderfully  beautiful,  and  seemed  like  the  flowery  isles 
of  a  dream,  or  an  allegory.  Indeed,  like  those,  they  were  not 
without  their  dangers ;  and  in  the  most  tempting  inlets  we  were 
sometimes  shown  the  rippling  of  whirlpools  and  breakers.  To  us 
these  were  no  subjects  of  alarm ;  our  boatmen  had  been  all  their 
lives  accustomed  to  this  track,  and  always  at  night  took  care  to 
secure  their  little  vessel  in  some  creek,  where  they  could  cast 
anchor  till  morning.  One  of  these  places,  a  small  barren  island 
covered  w^th  brushwood,  where  we  halted  for  the  second  night, 
was  really  picturesque  from  the  groupe  of  vessels  which  took  shel- 
ter at  the  same  time  with  ourselves,  the  grotesque  figures  of  the 
men  and  women  on  board,  and  the  numerous  fires  they  had  made 
along  the  shore.  You  will  be  surprised  to  hear  women  reckoned 
as  a  part  of  the  crew  ;  but  here  nothing  is  more  common.  In 
Stockholm,  indeed,  the  boats  are  all  managed  by  women ;  and  a 
man  would  no  more  di'eam  of  rowing  than  he  would  of  knitting 
stockings,  or  sucklmg  a  child.  We  were  very  well  furnished  with 
provisions  by  Mons.  Martin,  the  Frenchman  who  keeps  the  club  I 
mentioned  in  my  last  letter.  Two  of  our  kind  fiiends  in  Stock- 
holm, Mr,  Gyldenpalm,  the  Danish  Secretary  of  Legation,  and  Mr. 


SOCIETY  OF  STOCKHOLM.  91 

Wannerquist,  a  ricli  mercliant,  remarkable  for  his  hospitality  to  chap. 
Englishmen,  had  stored  us,  the  one  with  some  bottles  of  jmrticnlar  '^^- 
madeira,  the  other  with  port  and  London  porter :  the  madeira  is 
as  yet  untouched,  bemg  kept  as  a  reserve  for  the  wretched  country 
between  this  place  and  Petersburg.  We  had  a  companion  in  the 
person  of  a  poor  Fiimish  student,  who  was  desirous  of  returning 
to  Abo,  but  could  not  pay  his  passage ;  on  which  Thornton  very 
good-naturedly  proposed  taking  him  on  board  our  boat.  We 
picked  up  some  infonnation  from  him  respecting  Finland,  but  not 
so  much  as  I  had  expected ;  our  conversation  was  carried  on  in 
Latin,  which  he  spoke  readily  enough,  but  after  a  most  barbarous 
fashion.  Once  or  twice  in  the  course  of  our  voyage  we  were  able 
to  land  for  a  short  time,  and  were  much  pleased  with  the  appear- 
ance and  manners  of  the  peasants  of  Aland.  Castleholm  we  Mere 
prevented  from  going  to. 

"  I  have  been  so  occupied  with  the  details  of  our  voyage,  that 
I  was  nearly  forgetting  to  say  any  tiling  about  the  society  of  Stock- 
holm, which,  indeed,  though  we  met  with  much  kindness,  we  saw  at 
a  very  inauspicious  time.  By  a  cham  of  richculous  and  rather  mor- 
tifying impediments  and  mistakes,  we  were  prevented  from  meeting 
one  of  the  ladies  to  whom  Lady  Corbet  had  given  us  letters  of 
introduction.  I  was  however  charged  (tlu-ough  the  medium  of  the 
grand-master  of  the  ceremonies)  with  a  long  message  of  esteem  and 
affection  to  Lady  Corbet ;  and  the  whole  business  was  carried  off 
with  so  much  diplomatic  gravity  that  I  keep  the  notes  as  a  pattern 
of  state  negociation.  The  lady  indeed,  the  Countess  Rosse,  very 
kmdly  came  to  toMTi  on  purpose  to  meet  us,  but  by  the  stupidity 
of  our  loquais-de-place  our  cards  were  left  at  a  wrong  door. 
However  I  contrived  to  clear  myself  from  all  imputation  of  inci- 
vility ;  and  the  grand-master  of  the  ceremonies  and  I  concluded 
the  negociation,  by  seizing  the  opportunity  of  assuring  each  other 
of  oiu"  highest  consideration.  The  Countess  Selfocuspan  was  in 
Scania.  We  saw,  nevertheless,  some  little  of  the  female  society  of 
Stockholm,  and  were  pleased  vAih  it.  Sir  Sydney  Smith  very 
obhgingly  enclosed  me  a  letter  to  Baron  Armfeldt,  who  is  now  in 

n2 


9-2  ABO. 

CHAP.  Stralsund,  and  whom  we  shall  see  in  the  spring.  Our  principal 
'805-  acquaintance  in  Stockholm,  besides  Mr.  Gyldenpalm  and  Mr. 
Wannerquist,  was  Mr.  Edelcrantz,  who  is  private  secretary  to  the 
King,  and  at  once  a  poet,  a  mechanist,  an  architect,  and  a  connois- 
seur in  music  and  painting ;  he  is  superintendant  of  the  public 
works  of  the  kingdom,  a  knight  of  half-a-dozen  orders,  a  member 
of  at  least  as  many  learned  societies,  and  is  a  very  pleasing  well- 
informed  man,  with  an  excellent  understanding  and  much  general 
knowledge.  These  fiiends,  with  a  few  others,  made  om*  time  pass 
with  both  pleasm-e  and  mstruction  ;  and  we  have  certainly  no 
reason  to  regret  our  stay  in  Stockholm. 

Of  Abo  I  have  yet  seen  little,  and  that  little  coincides  with 
Wraxall's  opinion,  who  calls  it  "  the  wretched  capital  of  a  barba- 
rous province."  I  shall  how^ever  be  rather  slow  in  speaking  unfa- 
vom'ably  of  the  most  northern  university  in  the  world,  an  arcliiepis- 
'  copal  and  arcliiducal  city,  the  queen  of  Finland,  Bothnia,  and 
Lapland  ;  and  shall  rather  content  myself  with  the  accomit  given 
by  our  passenger,  the  student,  that  it  has  an  archbishop,  fifteen 
professors  with  moderate  salaries,  three  hundred  students,  a  ruined 
castle,  a  wliite-washed  cathedi-al,  and  is  urbs  antiquissima  pulcher- 
rimo  gaudens  situ. 

"  If  a  foreigner  of  the  name  of  Bag^  should  call  at  Hodnet, 
my  brother  will,  perhaps,  have  the  goodness  to  show  him  some 
little  attention.  He  is  a  very  respectable  and  ingenious  man,  emio- 
bled  by  the  present  king  for  having  carried  to  perfection  the  pro- 
digious canal  at  Trolhatta.  He  is  now  engaged  in  a  similar  work 
m  Norway,  and  intends  visiting  the  Welch  aqueduct,  and  the  other 
EngUsli  canals,  being  very  desirous  to  improve  himself  Assist- 
ance to  his  researches  A\dll  be  a  kindness  to  his  whole  nation,  and 
to  science  in  general." 


ABO.  93 


CHAP. 

To  Mrs.  Heber.  "f- 


St.  Petersburg,  October  9,  1805. 

"  I  am  unwilling  to  lose  a  moment  in  informing  you  of  our 
safe  arrival  at  tliis  place,  which  we  reached  last  night,  after  a  cold 
and  tedious  journey  from  Abo.  ****** 
*  *  *  *  *  *  I  gall  our  journey  tedious  because 
uninteresting ;  but,  in  point  of  speed,  we  have  been  very  tolerably 
alert,  and  even  travelled  two  whole  nights,  which  is  indeed  the  con- 
stant practice  of  travellers  tlu'ough  Finland.  Those  who  go  this  route 
in  close  carriages  scarcely  ever  stop  at  all ;  but  as  Thornton's  was 
only  the  poney-phaeton  which  he  bought  at  Gottenburg,  the 
nights  are  ah-eady  become  too  cold  to  allow^  of  our  making  this  a 
constant  practice.  This  poor  little  carriage  has  just  seen  us  safe 
through  the  journey,  and  seems  now  very  near  the  end  of  all  its 
toils  and  labours,  being  most  completely  worn  out,  the  springs 
broken  and  supplied  with  ropes,  the  harness  patched  with  the  same 
materials,  and  the  coach-box  hav-ing  lost  its  foot-board.  Our  friends 
here  seem  quite  surprised  at  so  duiiinutive  a  veliicle  having  got 
thi'ough  a  tour  of  two  thousand  miles ;  but  I  am  fully  convinced 
that  a  heavier  carriage  could  never  have  served  our  pm-pose  so  well. 
At  Trondlieim,  indeed,  the  surprise  lay  the  other  way  ;  every  body 
sajdng  it  was  the  largest  and  most  '  superb  coach'  that  had  ever 
passed  the  Dovre  Fells.  Om*  passage  through  Finland  was,  how- 
ever, by  no  means  without  amusement,  and  the  many  little  difficul- 
ties we  had  to  get  over  rather  served  to  give  variety  to  a  tract  where 
there  is  nothmg  very  interesting  to  a  touiist.  We  saw  all  that  was 
worth  looking  at  in  Abo  ;  it  has  a  large  old  brick  Church,  with  some 
ancient  monuments  ;  one  to  the  memory  of  Catherine,  the  country 
girl,  whom  the  unfortunate  Eric  the  XlVth  married ;  it  is  en- 
closed within  a  chapel,  or  slu-ine,  belonging  to  the  family  of  Tott, 
wliich  Hke^^'ise  contains  a  marble  monument  to  the  memory  of 
Achatius  Tott,  a  grandson  of  Catherine  and  Eric.  There  was  also 
another  monument  worthy  of  remark,  with  a  long  inscription  to  the 
memory  of  a  Sir  John  Cockburne,  a  Scotch  general  m  the  service  of 

7 


1«05. 


94  FINNISH  PEASANTRY. 

CHAP.     Gustavus  Adolphus.     A  public  library,   containing  about  10,000 

J^»"5-      volumes,  is  at  one  end  of  the  Church ;  it  belongs  to  the  university, 

vi^hich  is  unfinished,  and  principally  remarkable  for  some  beautiful 

pillars  of  porphyry  which  are  to  compose  the  portico.    They  have 

also  a  small  botanic  garden. 

*'  Helsingfors  and  Wyborg  are  wretched  places.  Swedish  Fin- 
land is  fertile  and  populous,  but  the  whole  country,  from  the  fron- 
tier hither,  is  the  most  desolate  that  can  be  imagined.  We  had 
expected  some  difficulty  with  regard  to  the  language,  particularly 
as  we  had  not  been  able  to  procure  an  interpreter  to  go  with  us. 
Swedish  is,  however,  understood  at  all  the  inns  as  far  as  Friderick- 
shamm,  and  our  servant  was  able  to  speak  Russian  fluently ;  so  that 
we  were  glad  to  have  escaped  the  trouble  of  carrying  a  laquais-de- 
place  from  Stockholm  to  Petersburg.  The  Fmnish  language  is  a 
dialect  of  the  Laplandish.  As  far  as  the  boimdary,  and  even  for 
some  short  distance  on  this  side  the  river  Kymen,  the  appearance 
of  the  people  continued  Swedish,  and  nothing  showed  us  that  we 
were  in  Russia,  except  the  chequered  posts  to  mark  the  versts,  and 
the  dingy  green  uniform  and  dark  complexion  of  the  soldiers  at  the 
barrier,  which  were  strongly  contrasted  with  the  blue  coats  and 
tall  ruddy  sentinels  on  the  Swedish  side.  At  Friderickshamm  the 
difference  in  di'ess  began  to  appear ;  a  loose  gown,  girt  with  a  broad 
woollen  or  cotton  sash,  a  plush  bonnet  trimmed  with  fur,  and,  in 
one  or  two  instances,  a  species  of  linen  turban,  supplied  the  place  of 
coats  and  hats,  which  were  only  worn  by  the  soldiers  and  post- 
masters. This  oriental  dress,  with  the  bare  necks  and  long  beards 
which  accompanied  it,  is  very  singular  and  interesting  to  an  English- 
man, who  can  scarcely  fancy  himself  in  a  European  state.  The 
higher  ranks,  indeed,  dress  as  we  do,  but  their  numbers  are,  com- 
paratively, very  small.  In  one  point  both  the  Finlanders  and  Rus- 
sians are  unfortunately  agreed ;  I  mean  in  the  proverbial  knavery 
of  the  lower  classes.  In  Sweden  every  thing  was  secure  from  theft ; 
and  our  carriage,  with  its  harness,  cushions,  &c.  stood  every  night 
untouched  in  the  open  street.  But  we  soon  found  how  very  inferior 
the  Sclavonian  race  is  to  the  Gothic  in  honesty,  and  were  obliged  to 


FINNISH  PEASANTRY.  95 

keep  a  constant  watch.      I  cannot  account  for  this  apparently    chap. 
generic  difference.    If  the  Russians  only  had  been  thieves,  I  should      '"os. 
have  called  it  the  eflPects  of  the  slavery  of  the  peasants  ;  but  Swe- 
dish Finland  is  just  as  bad,  and  the  peasants  are  as  free  as  in 
England. 

"  The  approach  to  Petersburg  over  a  bridge  of  boats  across 
the  Neva,  a  river  as  wide,  and  wider,  than  the  Thames,  is  exceed- 
ingly noble ;  all  the  public  builduigs  are  assembled  on  its  banks, 
and  you  might  think  yourself  in  a  city  of  palaces.  I  have  as  yet 
seen  nothing  of  the  town,  but  the  streets  which  we  drove  through 
yesterday  strongly  reminded  me  of  London ;  and  the  English  fur- 
niture of  ]Mr.  Bayley's  house  serves  to  complete  the  deception.  Mr. 
Bayley  had  very  kindly  prepared  a  set  of  rooms  for  us  in  his  house, 
in  which  we  had  the  enjojinent  of  English  beds  last  night.  The 
frost  is  just  beginning,  so  that  we  have  got  to  these  comfortable 
quarters  in  thne. 

"  Believe  me,  my  dear  Mother, 

"  Your  affectionate  Son." 

During  the  rest  of  the  journey  Mr.  Reginald  Heber  did  not 
keep  a  regular  diary,  but  made  memoranda  of  the  countries  through 
which  he  passed,  under  their  respective  heads. 

RUSSIAN  FINLAND. 

"  On  our  route  from  Louisa,  the  last  frontier  town  in  Sweden, 
to  Petersburg,  nothing  is  more  remarkable  than  the  change  which 
takes  place  in  the  appearance,  dress,  and  apparent  circumstances  of 
the  peasantry.  In  Swedish  Finland  the  peasant  has  all  the  clean- 
liness, uidustry,  and  decency  of  a  Swede ;  he  is  even  more  sober, 
but  very  inferior  in  honesty.  In  Russia  you  see  an  immediate  de- 
terioration in  morals,  cleanliness,  wealth,  and  every  tiling  but  intel- 
ligence and  cunning.  The  horses,  which  through  the  Swedish 
territories  were  uniformly  good,  became  poor  miserable  hacks ; 
and  to  the  good  roads,  which  we  had  enjoyed  ever  since  we  left 

.    2 


96  FINNISH  PEASANTRY.— CHURCHES. 


CHAP.    Gottenburg,  we  now  bade  a  long,  very  long  adieu.     The  highways 
iBt)5.     here,  as  throughout  Russia,  are  of  logs  laid  across  the  road ;  in  the 
greater  part  of  the  empire  this  is  absolutely  necessary,  as  there  are 
no  materials  for  road-making  but  sand.     In  Finland,  however,  gra- 
nite abounds  every  where ;  it  lies  m  large  masses,  some  of  which 
gave  me  a  perfect  idea  of  the  original  state  of  the  base  of  Peter  the 
Great's  statue,  before  Falconet  had  clipped  it.     The  peasants  we 
met  with  in  these  vile  roads  all  turned  out  of  the  way  for  us  in  a 
great  hurry ;  one  man  even  overturned  his  cart  and  liimself  to  make 
room  for  us ;  yet,  it  must  be  observed,  w^e  saw  few  people  asking 
charity ;  and  in  the  great  towns  of  Friderickshamm  and  Wyborg 
the  accommodation  at  the  inns  was  good,  and  there  were  several 
appearances  of  wealth  among  the  higher  and  middling  classes. 
Much  of  the  poverty  of  the  Finlanders  may  be,  no  doubt,  attri- 
buted to  natural  causes,  as  the  sterihty  and  depopulation  of  the 
country  are  excessive.     We  took  particular  notice,  that  between 
Friderickshamm  and  Wyborg  we  only  saw  one  Church,  which  was 
apparently  Lutheran  ;  the  majority  of  the  Finns  are  still  of  that 
persuasion,  though  the  Greek  religion  is  said  to  be  gaining  ground ; 
and  we  observed   several   new  Churches,    with    their  distinctive 
mark,  the  dome  and  pepper-box  steeple.     This,  however,  is  not  a 
positive  proof  of  its  increase,  as  a  congregation  is  by  no  means  neces- 
sary to  a  Greek  Church  :  every  wealthy  family  seems  to  make  a 
point  of  erecting  one,  and  though  the  materials  are  often  very 
slight,  being  brick  or  wood,  plaistered  and  whitewashed,  yet  much 
taste  is  frequently  displayed  in  their  architecture.    With  regard  to 
the  Lutheran  clergy,  they  are  said  to  enjoy  great  authority  over  the 
minds  of  the  people.      Mr.  Anderson,    at  Petersburg,   told  me, 
that  much  of  this  popularity  was  derived  from  a  style  of  preaching 
which  woidd,  in  any  other  part  of  Europe,  be  called  enthusiastic 
and  ranting  in  the  extreme.     A  Finnish  preacher  may,  in  summer, 
when  the  windows  of  his  Church  are  open,  be  heard  almost  a  verst 
off.     This  species  of  oratory  is,  however,  well  adapted  to  the  peo- 
ple they  address,  who  are  by  far  the  most  miserable  and  least  civi- 
lized of  any  part  of  Russia, 


FINNISH  LANGUAGE.  97 


"  Wyborg  and  Friderickshamm,  are  the  only  to\\Tis  in  the  two    chap 


III. 


provinces  that  bear  the  same  names ;  the  latter  is  very  small.  Wraxall  i^os. 
celebrates  the  beauty  of  its  plan,  which  is  that  of  a  star  ;  its  centre 
is  an  ugly  tovMi-house  painted  green  and  red ;  and,  as  well  as  the 
Churches  and  the  houses,  built  of  wood.  It  is  regularly  fortified 
and  is  a  sea-port,  but  with  very  httle  trade.  Wyborg  is  larger 
and  better  built ;  but  its  fortifications  are  neglected  and  its  com- 
merce is  also  very  trifling.  It  contains  one  Greek  Church  painted 
green,  several  Lutheran  Churches,  and  some  other  ancient  build- 
ings of  the  time  of  the  Swedes.  The  natural  situation  of  the  town 
is  apparently  strong ;  the  approaches  to  it  wind  very  much,  and 
are  carried  a  great  way  on  bridges  and  causeways.  It  is  customary 
at  both  these  places  for  travellers  to  present  themselves  personally 
to  the  governor  of  the  fort,  before  their  passjDorts  can  be  signed, 
which  caused  us  a  good  deal  of  embarrassment.  *  * 

*****  The  country  abounds 

in  lakes,  hills,  and  scrubby  fir  and  birch  timber,  and  is  little  more 
than  rock,  covered  with  a  stratum  of  lichen. 

"  During  the  time  of  our  journey,  all  the  northern  garrisons 
were  greatly  thinned  on  account  of  the  war.  We  passed  several 
regiments  on  their  march,  and  were  much  pleased  with  the  clean- 
liness, good  clothing,  and  soldier-like  appearance  of  the  men,  in 
which  they  far  exceeded  the  Swedes. 

"  The  Fiimish  peasants  are  at  present  very  much  assimilated 
to  their  Russian  fellow-subjects,  and  are  only  to  be  distinguished 
by  their  language  and  their  greater  poverty  and  filth.  We  were 
told  at  Petersburg  that  they  were  distinguished  by  their  light 
hair ;  but  on  advancing  further  into  Russia  we  found  that,  though 
dark  hair  is  more  common  among  the  Russians  than  among  their 
neighbours,  it  can  scarcely  be  assigned  as  a  national  characteristic. 
The  Finnish  language,  although  Voltaire  (who  knew  nothing  about 
the  matter)  denies  it,  is  merely  a  dialect  of  the  Lapp  ;  this  infor- 
mation we  had  from  Mr.  Wannerquist ;  *  *  * 
*  *  Indeed,  in  Norway  and  generally  throughout  the 
north,   Finn  and   Lapon   are  synonymous.     Lap   merely  means 

VOL.  I.  o 


98  AGRICULTURE. 

^nt^  wanrf^r^r,  and  the  Finnish  countenance  is  precisely  the  same  with 
"'"^-  that  of  the  Lap,  only  improved  by  a  rather  superior  manner  of 
living.  The  Samoyedes  are,  by  all  accounts,  precisely  the  same 
race,  and  all  are  but  the  miserable  remnants  of  the  wealthy  and 
commercial  possessors  of  Perm  and  the  ancient  territoiy  of  Novo- 
gorod,  who  were  expelled  or  subdued  by  the  Slavi.  Of  their  trade 
with  India  and  Norway  by  the  Volga  and  Petchora,  and  of  their 
temple  of  Youraala,  or  the  golden  woman  (Venus)  who  is  still 
worshipped  in  China,  we  have  accounts  in  many  modern  authors. 
I  think  Herodotus  also  mentions  them ;  he  certainly  speaks  of  the 
tribe  of  Slavi,  who  afterwards  subdued  Novogorod.  There  is 
nothing  in  the  distance  which  can  render  his  having  heard  of  them 
improbable.  In  a  level  country,  with  not  much  timber,  and  where 
for  many  months  the  rivers  are  all  bridged  over  with  ice,  a  few 
thousand  versts  are  nothing  to  a  Scythian.  Witness  the  rapid 
and  extraordinary  emigration  of  the  Mantchous  from  Russia  to 
China,  of  the  Mongouls  vice  versa,  and  the  Calmuks  of  late 
years. 

"  The  state  of  agriculture  in  Finland  is,  as  may  be  imagined, 
miserably  imperfect,  yet  their  turnips  and  butter  are  famous  all 
over  Russia.  The  Russian  butter  is  not  fit  to  be  laid  on  bread, 
or  employed  in  any  of  the  more  delicate  preparations  of  breakfast, 
but  it  is  used  in  the  kitchen.  At  Yaroslav,  when  we  asked  for 
butter,  we  were  told  that  very  little  Finnish  butter  was  made  in  the 
province,  by  which  it  would  appear  that  it  has  become  the  name 
of  the  species.  Vast  multitudes  of  Finnish  boors  come  during  all 
the  winter  to  Petersburg  on  small  wooden  sledges,  very  long 
and  narrow,  drawn  by  one  horse  ;  they  sell  butter,  milk,  vegetables, 
and  game.  It  is  very  awkward  to  cross  a  string  of  these  carts,  as 
they  all  go  at  a  round  trot,  and  the  horses  are  so  habituated  to 
follow  the  leader,  that  nothing  can  pierce  the  column,  and  you 
must  wait  till  the  whole  cavalcade  has  passed. 

"  Finland,  like  Sweden,  to  the  worst  parts  of  which  it  bears  a 
strong  resemblance,  is  full  of  lakes,  and  the  Russians  think  it  a 
very  picturesque  country ;  there  are  many  villas  in  it,  and  frequent 


COSSAKS.  99 

parties  of  pleasure  are  made  during  the  summer  from  Petersburg,     chap. 
One  favourite  point  for  this  amusement  is  a  village,  where  in  a      'sos. 
morass  are  still  seen  the  ruins  of  the  famous  bridge  of  pontoons, 
built  by  the  Swedes,  vuider  De  la  Gardie.     In  this  village  Mr. 
Anderson  found  established  in  a  small  cottage,  and  wearing  the 
dress  of  a  peasant,  an  old  lady,  the  widow  of  a  marechal  of  France, 
who,  on  some  quarrel  mth  her  friends,  had  retired  here ;  she  still 
had  much  chgnity  in  her  manner,   and  was  once  implored  by  the 
old  women  of  the  village,  to  intercede  for  the  removal  of  a  body  of 
soldiers,  who  were  sent  to  be  quartered  in  their  cottages ;  she 
acquitted  herself  of  her  commission  with  so  much  firmness  and 
spirit,  that  she  fairly  talked  the  troops  out  of  the  place. 

"  The  Finns  are  not  a  very  military  race,  but  a  considerable 
part  of  the  Russian  sailors  are  furnished  from  the  banks  of  the 
Ladoga  lake.  The  territory  as  far  as  Wyborg  was  conquered  from 
the  Swedes  by  Peter  the  Great,  and  Friderickshamm  was  added  by 
Elizabeth,  when  the  Russians  penetrated  as  far  as  Abo,  which  they 
were  enabled  to  do  chiefly  by  the  divisions  and  venality  of  the 
Swedish  senate.  The  Swedish  troops  behaved  very  ill  in  that 
war.  The  Finland  regiments  were  considered  as  disaffected  to 
the  senate,  and  were  kept  in  the  back  ground '.  We  found  a  good 
many  chasseurs  quartered  in  Finland  ;  and  in  Wyborg,  for  the  first 
time,  we  saw  some  Cossaks  ;  their  dress  is  a  common  blue  kaftan 
with  a  red  sash,  large  blue  trowsers  drawn  over  the  half-boots,  and 
a  high  cap  of  black  sheep-skin ;  their  lance  is  apparently  very  cum- 
bersome and  inefficient ;  they  have  one  large  pistol  which  hangs 
on  their  right  side ;  their  sabre  is  less,  and  less  crooked  than  ours. 
Prince  Wiasemsky,  at  Kostroma,  told  me,  that  till  the  reign  of  Paul 
they  had  still  the  power  of  choosing  and  degrading,  all  their  officers 
ad  libitum ;  at  present  the  colonels  are  appointed  by  the  crown. 
I  apprehend,  indeed,  that  this  controul  over  their  other  officers  is 
not  exercised  when  they  are  in  service,  but  merely  in  their  own 
hordes.     The  post-houses  in  Finland  all  belong  to  the  crown,  and 

'  See  Memoires  de  Manstein. 

o  2 


100  SUPERSTITIONS. 


CHAP,  have  their  stables  and  other  buildings  arranged  after  a  uniform  plan. 
1805.  We  got  horses  here  with  much  more  reachness  and  civility  than  we 
afterwards  did  in  Russia.  You  have  a  Podaroslina,  (order  for  post- 
horses,)  made  out  at  the  frontier,  for  which  you  pay  one  copeck  a 
horse  per  verst ;  you  may  pay  either  in  ducats  or  Swedish  money. 
Mr.  Carr  says  that  Swedish  money  is  seized ;  on  the  contrary,  it 
passes  current  at  the  post-houses,  and  every  where  else  as  far  as 
Friderickshamm,  and  even  farther.  Russian  money  is  seized  on 
the  frontier  ^\'ithout  pity.  A  man  leaving  Russia  with  the  intention 
of  returning,  may,  on  giving  up  his  Russ  money,  demand  a  receipt, 
and,  on  his  way  back,  may  claim  it  again.  The  fare  for  horses, 
besides  the  Podaroslina,  is  two  copecks  per  horse  a  verst '.  The 
driver  should  have  fifteen  or  twenty  copecks,  or  even  less  will 
satisfy  him  in  Finland.  The  ordinary  rate  of  travelling  is  ten 
versts  an  hour ;  or  on  good  roads  more.  In  winter  we  were  told 
by  every  one,  that  travelling  was  more  rapid ;  but  to  speak  from 
our  owTi  experience,  we  found  it  pretty  much  what  I  have  stated. 

"  The  Finnish  peasants  are  generally  of  a  shorter  stature  than 
their  neighbours  ;  their  women  are  sometimes  very  handsome  ;  and 
I  was  told  that  the  women  of  the  town  in  Petersburg  are  said  to 
be  chiefly  of  this  nation ;  the  nurses  of  the  foundling  hospital  are 
also  mostly  Finns.  The  childi-en  of  this  establishment  were  formerly 
suckled  by  goats,  but  the  custom,  has,  of  late  years,  been  altered. 

"  With  regard  to  the  domestic  habits,  religious  prejudices,  &c. 
of  the  Finns,  we  know  but  little.  Mr.  Anderson,  from  whom  I 
have  learnt  that  little,  says  that  they  have  still  retained  a  multi- 
tude of  superstitious  ceremonies,  which,  however,  appear  to  be 
pretty  much  the  same  \\dth  the  offerings  to  brownies  and  fairies  in 
Scotland,  and  the  Juttul,  Noech,  and  Neissen  of  Norway.  The 
festivities  of  the  May-pole  are  still  kept  up  in  Finland.  The  Finns 
are  the  only  people  in  European  Russia  who  retain  the  use  of 
snow-shoes.  The  Sn'd-plugh  of  Denmark  and  Sweden  is  unknown 
in  all  this  empire,  where  indeed  the  great  intercouse  on  the  high- 

'  One  verst  is  t\vo-thii-ds  of  an  English  mile  ;  one  hundred  copecks  go  to  a  ruble,  about 
two  shillings  and  eight  pence,  English.     (Now  ten  pence,  Ed.) 


RUSSIAN  ARMY.  101 

roads  makes  this   invention   unnecessary.     Oat-bread  disappears    chap. 
soon  after  passing  the  frontier,    and  rye  and  excellent  wheaten-      i""^- 
bread  supply  its  place ;   the  meat  also  becomes   better.     These 
luxuries,  however,  have  all  their  origin  in  ancient  Russia.     Finland 
produces  little. 

"  Though  the  Finns  are  not  distinguished  for  their  military 
character,  they  are  by  no  means  a  race  of  cowards.  In  their  com- 
bats with  the  bear  they  display  great  courage ;  a  man  will  fre- 
quently attack  one  hand  to  hand,  with  a  short  knife,  for  his  only 
weapon,  in  his  right  hand,  while  his  left  arm  is  wrapped  round  with 
a  sheep  skin.  Their  usual  weapons  are,  however,  the  gun  or  the 
spontoon.  The  bear  is  only  found  to  the  north  of  Novogorod, 
and  is  scarce  even  as  far  south  as  Petersburg.  Of  the  lynx  which 
is  found  in  Norway,  I  have  heard  nothing  here,  nor  have  I  seen  the 
skin  in  any  of  the  shops. 

"  The  Russians,  as  well  as  the  Swedes,  always  pile  their  anns 
when  on  guard,  before  the  door  of  the  guard-room,  a  slovenly 
practice,  which  exposes  them  to  be  always  wet.  The  Russ 
bayonet  is  very  much  shorter  than  the  Swedish.  The  grenadiers, 
and  some  other  regiments,  "wear  short  hangers  of  very  bad  temper. 
Their  uniform  is  green  with  white  pantaloons  and  half-boots,  with 
a  broad  white  belt  round  the  waist,  which  is  tied  so  ridiculously 
tight  as  very  much  to  impede  the  free  use  of  their  limbs ;  on  the 
whole,  their  dress  is,  like  that  of  most  other  soldiers,  more  fit  for 
a  parade  than  for  actual  service.  Many  regiments  still  retain  the 
large  hat.  A  Russian  battalion  consists  of  four  companies,  and 
each  company  of  138  rank  and  file,  four  officers,  ten  non-commis- 
sioned officers  and  four  drums  ;  each  company  now  consists  of  two 
platoons ;  but  in  Catherine's  time  they  were  chvided  into  four  pla- 
toons, and  the  officers  carried  flisils  ;  at  present  they  have  spon- 
toons  ;  in  her  time  their  uniform  consisted  of  loose  trowsers,  a  loose 
and  wide  jacket  and  a  casque.  Their  pay  is  ten  rubles  annually 
with  an  allowance  of  provision  ;  for  their  clothing,  they  are  allowed 
one  uniform  jacket,  one  pah  of  cloth  pantaloons  every  two  years, 
besides  which  they  have  a  linen  jacket,  a  pair  of  linen  trowsers, 


102  PETERSBURG. 

CHAP,  and  two  pair  of  boots  every  year.  A  Russian  is  enlisted  for 
'8"^-  twenty-five  years,  but  at  the  end  of  twenty,  if  he  has  behaved 
well,  he  receives  a  medal  which  exempts  him  from  corporal  punish- 
ment, and  gives  him,  in  fact,  the  privileges  of  an  officer.  After  the 
whole  period  of  service  is  concluded  he  is  discharged,  and  allowed 
to  practise  what  trade  he  pleases  in  any  part  of  the  empire ;  but, 
should  he  desire  it,  and  is  still  fit  for  garrison  duty,  he  is  placed  in 
the  invalid  battalions. 

To  Mrs.  Heber. 

St.  Petershurg,  October  27th,  1805. 

"  Dear  Mother, 

"  By  the  arrival  of  Hanbury  and  Stackhouse,  two 
Englishmen  whom  we  left  at  Stockholm,  I  had  the  pleasure  of 
receiving  your  second  letter,  which  had  not  reached  that  place 
during  our  stay  there.  Believe  me  it  was  a  very  great  pleasure  to 
hear  of  the  good  health  of  my  English  circle  of  friends  (for  Hodnet 
seems  very  seldom  to  contain  you  all  at  once,)  especially  as  I  had 
been  disappointed  of  finding  any  letters  at  Petersburg.  Our  time 
is  passed  pleasantly  and,  I  hope,  profitably,  in  learning  German, 
improving  in  French,  seeing  sights,  and  listening  to,  not  joining  in, 
political  discussions  These  employments,  with  a  few  Greek  books 
which  I  hope  to  borrow,  will  give  us  ample  amusement  for  the 
time  we  intend  to  stay  here. 

"  I  was  a  little  premature  when  I  mentioned  in  my  last  that 
the  winter  was  begun  ;  the  severe  frost  we  then  experienced  was 
what  the  Russians  call  the  '  little  winter,'  and  it  is  considered  as 
a  usual  appendage  of  autumn.  We  had,  indeed,  afterwards  some 
very  delightful  open  weather,  and  our  excursions  to  the  palaces 
and  prospects  in  the  neighbourhood,  which  we  secured  in  time  to 
catch  the  woods  before  they  were  entirely  naked,  were  in  as  favour- 
able weather  as  the  usual  run  of  English  Octobers.  The  frost, 
however,  is  now  again  severe,  and  there  is  every  prospect  of  a 
universally  sharp  and  early  winter.     The  merchants  here  are  al- 


POPULARITY  OF  THE  EMPEROR,  103 

ready  seriously  alarmed  for  the  vessels  in  Cronstadt  harbour,  most    chap. 

'  .  *  ,      .  .  Ill- 

of  which  are  only  half  freighted.     The  winter  seldom  really  sets  in      is"^- 

till  the  middle  of  November  ;  so  that  this  premature  cold  threatens 
to  send  the  vessels  away  empty,  or  to  lay  the  hindmost  by  the  heels 
till  spring.  We  have  as  yet  found  it  unnecessary  to  adopt  warmer 
clothing ;  but  we  have  each  of  us  got  a  famous  stuffed  coat,  which  I 
shall  try  this  evening.  The  Russians,  I  mean  the  higher  classes,  are 
already  in  their  furs  ;  but  I  have  observed  both  here  and  in  Swe- 
den, where  the  cold  is  always  comparatively  moderate,  that  the 
gentlemen,  from  their  indolent — I  had  almost  said  effeminate 
— lives,  and  from  the  great  heat  of  then'  houses,  are  much 
more  chilly  than  Englishmen.  If  a  Swede  rides  out  the  hottest 
day  in  summer,  the  probability  is  that  he  wears  a  swansdown 
great  coat,  and  a  silk  handkerchief  about  his  mouth  and  ears ; 
nor  shall  I  ever  forget  the  looks  of  astonishment  and  alarm  which 
an  open  window  never  failed  to  produce.  An  officer  in  the  guards 
would  as  soon,  or  sooner,  face  a  cannon  than  a  di'aft  of  air.  You 
see  whatever  else  I  may  learn  in  my  tour,  I  have,  at  least,  an  excel- 
lent example  of  prudence.  However,  though  we  dissented  from 
these  good  folks  during  the  summer,  I  faithfully  promise  that, 
during  the  winter,  I  will  be  entirely  guided  by  the  customs  of  my 
neighbours,  and  will  not  pretend  to  understand  their  chmate  better 
than  they  do  themselves. 

"  Our  plans  for  future  progress  are,  to  stay  here  till  Christ- 
mas, and  then  to  proceed,  on  the  mnter  roads,  into  Germany.  In 
the  mean  time,  we  hope  to  acquire  some  knowledge  of  German, 
and  to  be  able  to  settle  our  route,  which  must  of  course  depend  on 
politics,  and  the  advance  of  the  army.  Letters  of  introduction  to 
any  part  of  Germany,  particularly  Vienna  or  Berlin,  will  be  most 
thankfully  received ;  I  say  to  any  part,  because  it  seems  impossible  at 
present  to  say  what  parts  it  may  be  in  our  power  to  visit.  All  here 
are  in  high  spirits  about  the  war,  particularly  since  the  accession  of 
Prussia.  The  emperor,  indeed,  is  so  popular,  that  he  could  scarcely 
do  any  thing  of  which  his  people  would  not  approve.  It  is  far 
otherwise  in  the  country  we  have  lately  quitted ;  general  ill-hu- 


104  UNPOPULARITY  OF  THE  KING  OF  SWEDEN. 

CHAP,  mour  and  dissatisfaction  at  all  public  measures,  mutual  distrust 
'^"^  between  the  king  and  his  people,  and  a  bitter  sense  of  their  present 
weakness,  contrasted  with  their  ancient  military  glory,  are  at  pre- 
sent conspicuous  in  every  society  and  conversation  in  Sweden.  I 
was  really  perfectly  astonished  at  the  expressions  1  often  heard 
respecting  the  king,  the  hints  thrown  out  against  the  legitimacy  of 
his  birth,  and  the  public  insults  which  he  has  received  from  the 
university  of  Upsala.  Yet,  on  examining  into  the  causes  of  dissa- 
tisfaction, we  could  find  none  that  were  by  any  means  adequate. 
All  acknowledged  that  his  private  conduct  was  most  unblameable  ; 
that  his  general  frugality,  his  attention  to  business,  and  the  disci- 
pline of  his  troops,  were  great  and  commendable.  All  the  objec- 
tions they  could  really  bring,  were  the  austerity  of  his  manners,  his 
long  travels  in  Germany,  &c.,  and  the  present  war.  The  first  of 
these  is  surely  no  very  serious  one  ;  and  for  the  last,  every  English- 
man will  respect  rather  than  blame  him  ;  for  the  second,  which  is 
a  real  and  serious  fault,  he  may  plead,  I  know  not  how  many  French 
moralists  and  philosophers.  I  believe,  indeed,  we  must  look  to 
another  quarter  for  the  reasons  of  his  unpopularity,  and  that  much 
more  is  attributable  to  his  father's  conduct  than  his  own.  Gustavus 
the  Third  had  altered  the  constitution  of  his  country,  on  the  whole 
advantageously ;  but  he  had  in  many  respects  carried  the  regal  power 
farther  than  his  people  were  inclined  to  bear.  He  therefore  kept 
them  in  good  humour  by  files,  and  balls,  and  masquerades,  all 
which  were  very  pretty,  but  contributed  largely  to  swell  the 
debts  of  his  country,  which  his  taste  for  the  fine  arts,  the  most 
unfortunate  turn  that  a  king  can  take,  enlarged  to  a  great  degree 
for  so  small  a  kingdom.  At  last  he  left  an  empty  treasuiy,  a  dis- 
contented people,  an  infant  son,  and  a  regent  who  was  believed  to 
be  in  the  interest  of  France.  All  these  disadvantages  the  present 
young  king  has  had  to  struggle  with,  and  I  certainly  know  nothing 
more  interesting  or  more  critical,  than  the  present  situation  of '  that 
good  and  brave  nation,'  as  Kosciusko  called  them. 

"  I  have  prosed  to  you  so  long  about  Sweden,  that  I  must 
make  haste  and  return  to  Petersburg.     Our  usual  ill  luck  with 


PETERSBURG.  105 

respect  to  kings  and  princes  followed  us  here.     The  emperor  was    chap. 
set  off  for  Germany  before  our  ai-rival.     Lord  Leveson  Gower's      Jso^- 
departure  which  took  place  soon  afterwards,  was  a  still  greater 
disappointment,  as  we  had  met  with  great  kindness  and  civility 
from  him ;  and  if  he  had  staid  we  should  have  been  introduced  to 
the  best  society  in  the  best  possible  manner. 

"  Mr.  Mcieler,  the  Hanoverian  envoy,  to  whom  Sandford 
had  procured  me  a  letter,  has  however  been  a  very  valuable 
acquamtance ;  by  his  means  we  are  likely  to  see  a  good  deal  of 
the  best  circles  here.  The  town  is,  of  course,  by  no  means  full,  as 
many  of  the  nobility  are  with  the  army,  and  many  more  have  not 
yet  left  theu-  country-houses.  Among  the  English  we  have  a  very 
good  society,  and  owe  great  thanks  to  Mrs.  Cowper  and  Dr. 
Cayley  for  their  introductions.  I  am  obliged  to  end  my  letter 
abruptly,  as  the  pacquet  of  letters  is  making  up.  It  is  reported 
here  that  Lord  Leveson  Gower  is  to  be  recalled;  if  so,  perhaps  my 
brother  can  get  me  a  letter  to  his  successor,  which  will  be  of  great 
importance;  yiray  remember  that  introductions  to  any  part  of 
Germany  will  be  of  consequence,  as  we  are  really  without  plans  at 
present. 

"  Believe  me,  dear  mother,  your  dutiful  son, 

"  Reginald  Heber." 

"  I  could  get  no  music  either  in  Sweden  or  Norway  ;  in 
Sweden  they  have  none  worth  hearing ;  and  in  Norway,  though 
they  have  many  beautiful  simple  songs,  they  have  none  with  the 
notes  printed  or  written.     I  hope  to  get  a  good  deal  in  Russia. 

"  We  found  Colonel  Pollen  in  Petersburg ;  he  is  married  to 
the  daughter  of  a  Mr.  Gascoyne,  who  has  acquired  a  vast  fortune 
by  bringing  the  Carron  system  of  iron  foundery  into  Russia.  Pollen's 
house  is  one  of  the  most  splendid  in  Petersburg,  and  we  have 
received  great  civility  from  him.  I  must  defer  my  account  of  this 
place  till  my  next  letter." 


VOL.   I. 


106  PETERSBURG. 


CHAP. 
III. 

^^o^-  "  To  Mrs.  Heber. 


St.  Petersburg,  Nov.  20th,  1805. 
"  Dear  Mother, 

"  More  posts  from  England,  but  no  letters  for  me. 
I  conclude  from  this  circumstance  that  you  are  all  well ;  but  it 
would  really  be  a  very  great  treat  to  receive  some  certain  infor- 
mation. I  am  inclined  to  think  that  some  of  my  letters  have  mis- 
carried. I  wrote  from  Carlstad,  Stockholm,  and  from  Abo.  You 
really  have  no  idea  how  ravenous  I  am  grown  after  a  letter  from 
England,  and  how  disappointed  I  feel  at  hearing  of  another  barren 
post. 

"  In  my  last  letter  I  promised  you  an  account  of  Petersburg ; 
and  I  know  nothing  to  which  it  can  be  better  compared  than  some 
parts  of  the  new  streets  in  London,  without  their  causeways  and 
railed  areas.  There  is  every  where  displayed  the  same  activity  in 
beginning,  the  same  slightness  in  the  materials,  and  the  same  want 
of  accurate  finishing  or  perseverance.  There  is  indeed  nothing 
more  striking  than  the  apparent  instability  of  the  splendour  of  this 
great  town ;  houses,  Churches,  and  public  buildings  are  all  of 
plaistered  brick  ;  and  a  portico  worthy  of  a  Grecian  temple  is  often 
disfigured  by  the  falling  of  the  stucco,  and  the  bad  rotten  bricks 
peeping  through.  The  external  ornaments  and  structure  even 
of  their  great  Casan  Church,  which,  when  finished,  will  be  a 
noble  building,  are  of  the  like  materials.  But  what<3ver  may  be 
their  durability,  their  general  appearance,  with  their  gaudy  orna- 
ments, their  gilt  spires  and  domes,  and  the  gold-leaf  which  is 
lavished  on  the  capitals  and  bases  of  their  pillars,  produces  alto- 
gether a  very  glorious  and  novel  effect.  The  neighbourhood  of 
Petersburg,  particularly  on  the  Livonian  and  Moscow  sides,  is  not 
so  barren  as  I  was  at  first  induced  to  think,  from  the  desolation  of 
the  Finland  road.  Russia  itself,  for  St.  Petersburg  is  considered 
only  as  a  conquest  and  colony,  is,  I  am  told,  a  much  finer  country 
than  what  we  have  yet  seen ;  and  the  real  Russ  peasantry  are  in  much 

2 


GENERAL  APPEARANCE  OF  THE  RUSSIANS.  107 

more  easy  circumstances  than  those  of  the  conquered  countries,  chap. 
The  difference  in  appearance  between  the  Russians  and  the  i^os. 
Ingrians  and  Finns,  is,  indeed,  sufficiently  remarkable;  the  rags 
and  filth  of  the  latter  are  enough  to  point  them  out,  even  without 
the  distinction  of  their  yellow  hair  and  beard.  The  real  Russian 
is  generally  middle-sized,  (I  think  the  average  height  is  lower  than 
in  England,  and  the  standard  of  their  military  height  is  lower  even 
in  time  of  peace,)  his  beard  is  thin  and  lank,  and,  as  well  as  his 
eyes  and  hair,  generally  very  dark  ;  in  his  air  and  figure  there  is 
great  appearance  of  activity  and  liveliness ;  a  Russian  servant  is 
often  idle,  careless,  and  roguish,  but  very  seldom  awkward  or 
uncivil.  These  national  features  are  the  same  all  over  the  empire  ; 
and  you  may  go,  I  understand,  from  Archangel  to  Astrachan 
without  finding  the  least  alteration  in  dress,  language,  manners  or 
food.  Their  food,  which  consists  principally  of  sour  cabbages  or 
cucumbers,  and  water-melons,  is  certainly  very  wholesome,  and, 
with  their  weekly  use  of  the  warm-bath,  preserves  them  from  the 
scurvy,  and  the  cutaneous  diseases  to  which  the  Swedes  and  Nor- 
wegians are  excessively  subject.  The  baths  are,  however,  by  no 
means  sufficient  to  keep  them  sweet ;  and  to  pass  to  leeward  of  a 
Russian  peasant  is  really  so  terrible  an  event  that  I  always  avoid 
it  if  possible ;  and  experience  only  can  give  any  idea  of  the  bad 
smells  united  beneath  his  '  kaftan'  or  long  gown,  particularly  in 
winter,  when  it  is  composed  of  sheep-skins.  The  manners  and 
the  parties  of  the  upper  ranks  are  so  exactly  like  those  of  London, 
that  there  is  no  perceivable  difference.  Cards,  which  we  were 
told  in  Sweden  were  absolutely  necessary,  we  even  see  less  of  than 
in  London.  Some  of  the  houses  are  pleasant,  but  the  circle  is  not 
very  numerous,  and  now  begins  to  grow  tiresome.  The  return  of 
the  Emperor  will  perhaps  bring  back  gaiety.  We  shall,  however, 
at  all  events  quit  this  place  in  about  six  or  seven  weeks.  The 
Russians  strongly  recommend  a  scheme  for  ovu-  future  tour,  which 
Thornton  has  written  to  his  friends  to  propose,  and  for  which  I 
have  promised  to  ask  your  permission.  It  is  to  go  from  Moscow 
the  direct  road  to  Coiistantinople,  instead  of  to  Poland ;  and  after 

p  2 


108  PROPOSED  TOUR. 

CHAP,     a  month's  tour  in  Greece,   to  return  by  Venice  into  Germany. 

1805.      This  route  is,  however,  only  proposed  if,  from  the  state  of  Europe, 

it  should  be  difficvdt  to  get  into    Germany  immediately.     The 

principal  difficulty  in  the  plan  is  that,  perhaps,  it  will  require  two 

months  longer  furlough  fi-om  England.     Under  any  circumstances 

we  may  possibly  not  undertake  it ;  but  if  you  or  my  brother  think 

the  scheme  too  extensive,  pray  send  me  word  when  you  wish  me 

to  return  to  England.     *     *     *     *     Believe  me  I  shall  be  ready 

to  return  there,  though  I,  of  course,  am  unwilling  to  omit  any  of 

my  present  opportunities  of  improvement.     All  however  that   I 

wish  for  is  provisional  permission,  if  it  should  seem  advisable  to 

us.     I  shall  take  no  steps  till  I  hear  from  you.     If  you  do  not 

approve  of  the  plan,   which  is  indeed  entirely  formed    on    the 

advice  of  our  Russian  friends  who  have  made  the  tour,  pray  say 

so.     I  would  not  for  the  world  that  my  amusements  should  cause 

anxiety  to  my  friends.     Write  your  answer  soon.     Believe  me,  my 

dearest  mother, 

"  Your  dutiful  son, 

"  Reginald  Heber." 


To  Richard  Heber,  Esq. 

St.  Petersburg,  Decemher,  1805. 
"  Dear  Brother, 

"  My  best  thanks  are  due  for  your  very  agreeable 
letter,  which  was  too  full  of  English  information  not  to  be  most  in- 
teresting to  a  sojourner  in  the  land  of  frost  and  snow.  Though 
the  severity  of  the  winter  is  by  no  means  yet  at  its  height,  we  have 
had  some  little  experience  already  of  its  general  effects,  and  have 
(thovigh  really  in  compliance  with  advice  more  than  from  any 
necessity,)  assumed  a  padded  great  coat  for  the  day,  and  a  prodi- 
gious fur  gown  for  journeys,  evening  visits,  and  the  play-house 
This  last,  however,  I  have  only  worn  twice,  and  then  could  wil- 
lingly have  spared  it.  We  bow  to  experience,  as  we  are  told 
of  many  Englishmen  mIio  braved  the  climate,  but  have,  in  conse- 
quence, had  rheumatism  all  their  lives.     The  worst  of  this  equip- 


SLEDGES  AND  CARRIAGES.  109 

ment  is  its  expense ;  my  winter  robes  come  altogether  to,  at  least,    chap. 


HI. 


twenty-five  guineas,  or  perhaps  thirty ;  and  yet  they  are  the  cheap-  1805 
est  kind  a  gentleman  can  wear,  and  were  esteemed  a  remarkably 
good  bargain.  In  Sweden  they  are  much  more  simple  in  their 
dress.  Many  go  without  furs,  and  those  who  wear  them  are  con- 
tent with  wolf-skin,  which  none  but  servants  wear  in  Russia,  when 
they  stand  behind  carriages. 

"  I  am,  on  the  whole,  not  displeased  with  this  arctic  weather, 
which,  though  severe,  is  pleasant  and  serene ;  very  favourable  for 
exercise,  and  I  think  for  health.  The  houses  have  all  double  whi- 
dows,  and  the  men  are  so  fenced  against  cold  by  their  dress,  that 
we  should  hardly  be  aware  of  the  keenness  of  the  atmosphere,  were 
it  not  for  the  thermometer  which  hangs  at  almost  every  window. 
The  days  ai"e  short  but  clear,  and  the  nights  are  so  magnificent,  as 
quite  to  surpass  my  expectations.  Yet  I  have  heard  some  of  the 
Russians  complain  that  the  A\inter  has  as  yet  been  hazy  and  English. 
There  have,  indeed,  been  frequent  thaws,  and  very  remarkable 
transitions  from  intense  cold  to  several  degrees  of  warmth. 

"  You  wall  expect,  no  doubt,  an  account  of  the  flying  moun- 
tains, ice-hills,  and  the  other  amusements  which  Coxe  mentions ; 
but  these  are  mostly  confined  to  the  lower  classes  :  and  though  I 
have  looked  for  them  with  anxious  expectation,  none  have,  as  yet, 
appeared  on  the  river.  Sledge  driving  is  the  favourite  amusement, 
and  I  think  it  a  very  stupid  one,  unless  for  the  sake  of  showing  off  a 
fine  pair  of  horses.  The  horses  used  for  this  purpose  are  broke  in  a 
particular  manner  ;  one  trots,  and  the  other  canters,  prances,  kicks, 
and  rears  with  great  pretended  violence,  all  which  he  does  so  as 
to  keej:)  pace  with  the  other ;  they  pay  an  enormous  price  for  a 
horse  of  this  kind,  well  trained.  A  well  equipped  sledge  is  a 
beautiful  and  striking  object,  and  answers  to  curricles  and  phaetons 
in  England.  No  man,  howevei",  can  pay  visits  without  having  a 
carriage  ;  and  if  he  aspires  to  any  thing  like  noble  society,  or  to 
the  character  of  gentdhomme,  his  carriage  mvist  be  drawn  by  four 
horses,  all  with  long  manes,  and  the  traces  three  times  longer  than 
necessary ;  the  coachman  is  a  venerable  figure,  with  a  long  gown. 


no  THEATRES. 

CHAP,  beard,  and  square  cap,  like  those  worn  by  Bishops  Parker  and 
'"o^-  Grindall  in  their  pictures.  The  postiUion  is  a  httle  boy  in  the 
same  dress,  girt  tight  round  him  with  a  broad  red  sash ;  he  rides 
on  what  we  should  call  in  England  the  wrong  horse,  holds  his  whip 
in  the  left  hand,  and  is  obliged  to  cry  out  continually  like  the 
children  who  drive  the  crows  from  the  corn-field.  This  he  is 
obliged  to  do  as  there  are  no  footways ;  and  they  drive  so  fast, 
that  if  the  streets  were  not  very  wide  and  the  population  very 
thin,  accidents  must  continually  happen.  Very  neat  carriages  and 
sets  of  horses  of  this  description,  are  always  to  be  hired  by  the 
month,  and  we  have  got  a  remarkably  good  one.  The  carriages 
and  furniture  of  all  sorts  in  Russia  are  so  minutely  copied  from 
the  English,  that  it  would  require  the  eye  of  a  connoisseur  to 
distinguish  them. 

"  There  is  no  Italian  opera  here ;  the  French  theatre  we 
have  attended  pretty  constantly  ;  there  are  also  German  and  Russ 
theatres,  but  they  are  little  frequented :  the  plays  acted  at  the  latter 
are,  for  the  most  part,  on  the  model  of  Bluebeard  and  Pizarro,  and 
merely  attended  for  the  sake  of  the  scenery  and  dresses,  which 
are  at  the  expence  of  government,  and  the  best  managed  I  ever 
saw.  The  Greek  theatre  is  very  magnificent,  a  little  lai'ger  than 
Covent  Garden. 

"  In  the  German  language  we  are  making  tolerable  progress 
considering  its  difficulty;  the  grammar  and  the  particles,  separable 
and  inseparable,  are  indeed  more  complicated  than  Latin,  Greek, 
and  Hebrew  in  one.  The  Russ  we  have  not  attempted,  though 
we  have  been  oflen  amused  with  its  strange  and  barbarous  simi- 
larity to  Greek.  O^vg  and  Foivo,  with  a  true  tEoHc  pronunciation, 
are  vinegar  and  wine;  and  after  a  range  of  visits,  we  order  our 
carriage  to  drive  Aof^iwg.  I  have  had  plates  handed  to  me  by 
Nestors  and  Nicons ;  and  one  day  heard  a  hackney-sledge  driver 
call  his  friend  Athanasius  ;  but  all  these  are  exceeded  by  an  intro- 
duction we  are  promised  to  the  divine  Plato  himself,  who  is  the 
Archbishop  of  Moscow,  and  one  of  the  few  learned  divines  of  the 
Greek  Church.     The  Greek  clergy  are  generally  in  a  very  low 


GREEK  CLERGY— THE  TAURIDA.  ill 


station,  and  miserably  ignorant,  though  greatly  beloved  by  the  chap. 
common  people.  Their  appearance  when  performing  service  is  laos- 
sometimes  very  striking ;  their  long  beards,  flowing  hair,  and  robes 
exactly  resembling  those  which  we  see  in  an  illuminated  Greek  MS. 
amid  the  glare  of  tapers,  the  smoke  of  incense,  and  a  crowd  of  wor- 
shippers kissing  the  steps  of  the  Altar  and  the  hem  of  their  garments, 
foi-m  as  good  a  picture  as  most  I  have  seen.  This  is  a  subject  I 
could  enlarge  upon,  as  I  have  enquired  about  it ;  but  I  have  much 
to  say,  and  fear  to  be  too  late  for  the  n02T,  for  so  is  the  post  spelt 
and  pronounced  by  a  Russian. 

"  I  am  not  sure  whether  in  my  last  I  said  any  thing  about 
the  palaces  here  and  in  the  neighbourhood,  of  which  the  Tau- 
rida  is  the  only  one  that  has  quite  answered  my  exjoectation ; 
the  winter-garden  there,  which  is  a  grove  of  evergreens  in  a  vast 
saloon  (something  like  an  extension  of  the  plan  for  a  green-house, 
given  by  Mason,  in  his  story  of  Alcander  and  Nerina)  is  perhaps  a 
matchless  piece  of  elegant  luxury.  The  great  palace  is  a  vast 
tasteless  pile  of  plaistex'ed  brick  ;  and  the  marble  palace  is  tamely 
conceived,  and  its  pilasters  look  like  slices  of  potted  beef  or  char. 
In  the  great  palace  are  some  good  pictures ;  the  Houghton  collec- 
tion is  in  the  hermitage  which  is  now  under  repair.  What  in- 
terested me  most  were  the  private  rooms  of  the  emperor  and 
empress,  which  were  remarkable  for  their  comfort,  neatness,  and 
simplicity.  Alexander's  private  study  and  dressing-room,  which, 
though  not  generally  shown,  we  were  permitted  to  see,  was  appa- 
rently just  as  he  had  left  it,  and  answered  completely  my  ideas  of 
what  a  monarch's  retirement  ought  to  be.  The  table  was  heaped 
with  books  which  we  were  not  allowed  to  meddle  with  or  take  up, 
but  among  which  I  thought  I  distinguished  Guichard  and  Folard ; 
and  round  the  room,  which  is  small,  were  piled  a  great  number  of 
swords,  musquets,  rifles,  and  bayonets  of  difierent  kinds  and  in- 
ventions ;  in  the  window-seats  were  some  books  of  finance.  The 
whole  was  so  carelessly  and  naturally  arranged,  that  I  am  con- 
vinced it  was  not  intended  as  a  show.  In  fact,  his  aversion  to  dis- 
play of  all  kinds  is  the  most  striking  part  of  his  character,  and  it 


112  POPULARITY'  OF  THE  EMPEROR. 

CHAP,  is  even  carried  to  excess.  As  he  is  now  in  person  with  the  army, 
^^"^-  and  has,  it  is  said,  expressed  a  wish  to  win  his  sjnirs,  before  he 
assumes  the  mihtary  order  of  St.  George,  I  fear  we  have  httle 
probabihty  of  seeing  him  before  we  leave  Petersburg.  The 
Russians  and  Enghsh  attempt  to  outdo  each  other  in  his  praises ; 
and  the  women  in  particular  speak  of  him  as  the  best,  the  most 
polite,  and  the  handsomest  man  in  the  world.  But  after  all  allow- 
ance is  made  for  their  partiality,  he  appears  to  be  really  of  a  very 
amiable  temper  and  manners,  and  a  clear  unperverted  head ;  he 
is  said,  above  all,  to  be  active  and  attentive  to  his  peculiar 
duties ;  he  is  neither  a  fiddler,  a  poet,  a  chemist,  or  a  philosopher, 
but  contents  himself  with  being  an  emperor.  His  person,  to  judge 
by  his  busts  and  statues,  is  tall  and  strongly  built ;  his  complexion 
fair  and  pale ;  his  hair  light,  and  his  face  full  and  round.  I  have 
been  anxious  to  give  you  some  general  idea  of  this  amiable  man,  in 
whose  character  and  conduct  Europe  is  so  deeply  interested.  The 
minuter  traits  in  his  character,  which  may  perhaps  be  necessary  to 
the  shading  the  pictm'e,  and  which  are  collected  fi-om  the  different 
anecdotes  one  picks  up,  will  serve  for  fire-side  talk.  There  is, 
however,  one  very  remarkable  trait  which  tends  to  illustrate  his 
character;  popular  as  he  is,  one  hears  very  few  anecdotes  of  him. 

"  I  expect  impatiently  my  mother's  answer  respecting  Con- 
stantinople. I  write  but  little  on  politics,  partly  because  Peters- 
burg, from  its  remoteness,  is  out  of  the  current  of  news  almost  as 
much  as  England ;  and  partly  because  I  do  not  chuse  to  submit  all 
my  political  observations  to  the  chance  of  an  inspection  at  the 
Post-office,  which  sometimes  happens  in  England  as  well  as  on 
the  continent.  The  war  here  is  popular,  and  the  people  profess 
themselves,  and  I  believe  really  are,  friendly  to  the  English  cause 
and  nation.  If  any  thing  could  have  diminished  this  feeling,  it 
would  have  been,  I  think,  the  inactivity  of  the  arms  of  Great  Britain 
during  the  pi*esent  coalition ;  to  the  want  of  a  timely  diversion  in 
that  quarter,  there  are  many  who  are  fond  of  attributing  the 
dreadful  calamities  which  have  befallen  Austria :  and  though  the 
presence  of  Englishmen  was  always  a  restraint,  I  have  repeatedly 


RUSSIANS'  OPINION  OF  ENGLAND.  113 

been  made  half-mad  by  ^^'itnessing  the  deep  and  general  indignation  ch.m' 
at  the  conduct  of  ministry ;  a  conduct  which  I  have  often  endea-  i^Qs- 
voured  to  defend,  at  least  as  far  as  the  general  character  of  the 
country  was  at  stake.  You  will  likewise  soon  see  the  curious  effect 
which  this  produced  on  the  terms  of  a  late  offered  negociation. 
Thank  G  od,  the  victory  of  Trafalgar,  followed  up  by  the  arrival  of 
General  Don,  at  Cuxhaven,  has  turned  the  scale  in  our  favour,  and 
the  destruction  of  Boulogne,  of  which  we  are  in  daily  hopes  to  hear, 
will  give  new  spirits  to  the  friends  of  England,  and  of  what  is 
emphatically  called  '  the  good  cause.'  Pitt  is,  I  believe,  thought 
highly  of  here,  though  his  late  inactivity  staggered  their  good 
opinion.  The  news  from  the  Russian  army  continues  comfortable 
to  Europe  and  glorious  to  Russia.  Bragration,  of  whose  exploits 
you  have  heard,  is  a  very  remarkable  character ;  he  is  a  Georgian 
by  birth,  and  chief  of  one  of  the  tribes  of  Mount  Caucasus  ;  he  was 
a  favourite  of  Suwarof,  and  acquired  great  reputation  in  Italy." 


VOL.  I.  Q 


CHAPTER  IV. 

PETERSBURG    TO    MOSCOW. 

Captain  Davisoti's  farm — Entrance  into  Petersbtirg — Russian  weights  and  mea- 
sures— Bridges — Tlte  Artelshiki — Czarsko-Zelo — Winter  palace — Hermitage — 
Isaac'' s  palace — Senate — Iron  icorks — Police —  Washerwomen — Sledge  driving 
— Emperor''s  return  to  Petersburg — Levy  for  the  army — Emperor^s  court — 
Ramadan — Livonian peasants — Palace  of  Peterhof — Oranienbaum — Cronstadt 
— Novogorod —  Valdai — Shoes  made  of  linden  bark — Ahrock — Slaves — Tobolsk — 
Iver — Anecdote — Russia h^  treatment  of  his  horses, 

CHAP.    The  next  in  order  among  Mr.  Reginald  Heber's  notes  are  the 
1805.      following  memoranda  on 

PETERSBURG. 

"  In  approaching  nearer  to  the  capital  no  superior  advances 
in  civihzation  are  visible  ;  and  all  that  gives  you  any  idea  that  you 
are  approaching  it  is  the  distant  \\evf  of  Cronstadt,  and  the  palace 
of  Oranienbaum,  on  the  Livonian  side  of  the  gulph,  which  is  here 
barely  so  wide  as  the  Severn  at  its  junction  with  the  Avon  below 
Bristol.  There  is  also  a  high  point  of  land  not  far  from  Oranien- 
baum, which  arrests  the  attention,  as  being  the  only  object  which 
breaks  the  sea-hke  level  you  look  down  on  from  the  last  rocks  of 
Finland.  On  descending  these  you  have  a  magnificent  view  of 
the  town,  with  its  gilded  domes  and  spires.  Just  without  the 
barrier  is  a  patch  of  land,  cultivated  in  the  Enghsh  manner  by  a 
Captain  Davison,  an  English  officer  who  came  into  Russia  as 
secretary  to  Mr.  Novosillzof ;  it   is   the  only  cultivated  ground 


CAPTAIN  DAVISON'S  FARM.  115 

on  tliis  side  of  Petersburg,  and  was  reclaimed,  at  the  expence  of    chap. 
government,  fioni  a  most  unpromising  morass,  wliere  the  emperor      i^o*. 
and  his  horse  were  nearly  swallowed  up  two  years  ago.     It  is  now 
become  very  tolerable  ground,  and  being  cropped  and  stocked  in 
the  Enghsh   manner,   abeady  supplies   the   principal   houses    in 
Petersburg  with  butter,    garden-stuff,    and  butchers'-meat,    of  a 
much  better  kind  than  they  had  before.     Davison,  who  is  a  man 
of  great  resolution  and  industry,  devotes  himself  entirely  to  it ;   he 
has  acquired  a  perfect  knowledge  of  the  Russian  language,  and 
living  himself  on  the  farm,  in  the  neighbourhood  of  a  great  capital, 
with  a  convenient  water-carriage  in  summer,  he  \n\\  probably  succeed 
in  bringing  it  to  perfection.      Some  slight  inconveniences  he  com- 
plained of,  such  as  being  obliged  to  make  his  farm  a  show,  which 
of  course  is  a  great  interruption  to  his  works.    He  hopes,  by  crossing 
the   breeds   of  Russian   cattle   with  those   of  other   nations,  to 
produce  a  breed  more  suited  to  the  climate  than  any  yet  known. 
The  Russ  cattle  and  sheep  are  but  of  very  imperfect  qualities, 
except  the  Archangel  cattle,  which  were  originally  brought  there 
by  a  mere  accident  from  Holstein.     The  Archangel  veal  is  a  very 
celebrated  dainty  at  Petersburg.     The  soil  of  Davison's  farm  he 
described  as  suited  to  the  Norfolk  system  of  husbandry ;  its  chief 
products  at  present  are  cabbages,  turnips,  and  a  root  peculiar  to 
Russia,   larger  than  a  turnip  and  of  the  same  colour,  but  of  a 
conical  form ;  it  is  eaten  raw  like  a  radish,  which  it  resembles  in 
taste.     For  cattle  it  is  a  very  good  winter  provision.     Potatoes 
are  as  yet  scarce  in  Russia,  and  the  people  have  not  got  over  their 
prejudices  against  them.     Mr.  Jackson,  of  Petersburg,  told  me 
that  one  of  the   dvornichs  (house-slaves)  asked  him,  with  much 
anxiety,  if  the  troops  sent  to  Germany  would  be  well  fed.     On  his 
answering  in  the  affirmative,   '  but,  sir,'  said  the  Russian,  '  are 
you  sure  they  will  not  give  them  potatoes  ?'      The  only  garden- 
stuff  on  which  the  Russians  set  much  value  are  cabbages,  cucum- 
bers, water-melons,  and  onions ;  these,  with  hemp  and  linseed-oil, 
a  few  pickled  sprats,  rye-bread,  qwass,  in  which  they  generally 
mingle  salt,  and  buckwheat  boiled  with   oil,   form  the  diet  of  a 

Q  2 


116  PETERSBURG. 

CHAP,  peasant.  It  does  not  appear  a  very  strengthening  one  ;  yet  they 
^«o^  certainly  thrive  on  it,  and  are  preserved  by  this  and  their  baths 
from  the  itch,  scurvy,  and  other  disorders  to  which  the  Swedes 
and  Norwegians,  though  a  much  cleaner  race,  are  dreadfully 
subject.  I  need  only  mention  the  Plica  Polonica  to  show  that 
their  southern  neighbours  are  still  worse  off. 

"  Davison's  butter  is  stamped  with  the  imperial  eagle,  and 
the  farm  is  called  the  imperial  farm  ;  the  emperor  when  at 
Kameny  Ostrof  pays  much  attention  to  it,  and  takes  great  pleasure 
in  riding  about  it  and  showing  the  improvements  '  at  Kameny. 
Ostrof  is  a  small  lodge  on  an  island  of  the  Nevka,  adjoining  the 
farm  ;  the  emperor  and  empress  pass  there  a  great  part  of  every 
summer ;  it  is  a  low,  green  and  marshy  situation  embosomed  in 
trees,  on  the  right-hand  entering  into  Petersburg. 

*'  We  entered  the  city  by  a  long  suburb,  then  passed  the 
Nevka  by  a  bridge  of  boats  to  the  island  of  the  citadel,  and  thence 
by  another  of  the  same  construction  across  the  magnificent  Neva. 
The  view  is  here  strikingly  grand ;     in  front    are  the  summer 
gardens  with  a  very  high  iron  gilt  palisade,  which  has  a  fine  effect 
among  the  hme  trees,  over  which  rises  the  gilt  spire  of  Paul's 
palace  of  St.  Michael ;    on  the  left-hand  the  length  of  the  granite 
quay  is  lined  with  very  magnificent  private  houses,  and  is  bounded 
in  the  distance  by  the  dome  of  the  Taurida  palace  ;   the  right-hand 
view  is  filled  with  the  marble  palace,  the  house  built  by  Paul  for 
the  princess  Gargarin,  the  theatre,  Hermitage,  winter-palace,  and 
the  admiralty  with  its  gilded  spire.     On  turning  round  you  see  on 
the  other  side  of  the  river  the  citadel  with  its  granite  bastions,  and 
the  cottage  of  Peter  the  Great  close  beneath  them ;  a  little  further 
the  cadet  corps,  and  lastly  the  new  College  of  arts  and  sciences. 
On  driving  through  the  town  as  we  did  by  the  Isaac's  place,  the 
statue    of  Peter  the  Great,  &c.,  to  the  Quai  de  Galerenhof,  our 
admiration  was  continually  on  the  stretch  ;  and  though  it  was  no 
doubt  increased  by  the  comparison  of  what  we  saw  now  with  what 
we  had  seen  in  Sweden  and  Norway,  it  is  certain  that,  however 


RUSSIAN  WEIGHTS  AND  MEASURES.  117 

deficient  in  taste,  convenience,  or  durability,  each  building  taken  chap. 
separately  may  appear,  as  a  whole  the  plan  and  cotip  d'ceil  of  ^^^ 
Petersburg  may  be  considered  as  almost  a  standard  of  beauty.  Its 
situation  and  distribution  may  be  better  traced  by  the  plan  than  by 
any  account.  Its  streets  are  generally  very  \vide,  and  the  houses 
low,  nor  always  contiguous  ;  the  Nevska  perspective  is  the  prin- 
cipal, which  is  divided  in  the  middle  by  a  raised  gravel-walk,  railed 
in  and  planted  with  lime-trees.  These  rails,  as  well  as  all  public 
buildings,  bridges,  sentry-boxes,  and  guard-houses,  are  checquered 
black  and  white ;  this  was  a  whim  of  Paul's.  The  houses  are 
mostly  very  large,  built  round  courts,  and  generally  divided  into 
twenty  or  thirty  different  tenements.  I  remember  Kerr  Porter, 
hunting  about  a  whole  morning  for  a  house  of  which  he  knew 
both  the  street  and  the  number.  The  staircases  are  often 
common,  and  a  family  lives  on  every  story ;  the  basement  story  and 
cellars,  even  of  the  most  magnificent  houses,  are  always  let  for  shops, 
brandy  cellars,  cabacks,  and  every  thing  that  is  filthy.  The  houses 
and  Churches,  with  the  exception  of  the  marble  palace,  the  marble 
Church,  and  the  Cathedral  of  our  Lady  of  Casan,  are  all  of  bad 
brick,  white-washed  and  plaistered  into  a  very  good  resemblance  of 
stone.  In  this  imitation,  as  well  as  that  of  marble,  they  are  very 
happy ;  the  marble,  in  particular,  it  is  impossible  to  distinguish  from 
real ;  it  costs  one  ruble  the  square  arskine '. 

'  The  measures  of  Russia  are  as  follow  : 

16  vershoks=  1  arskine. 
3  arskines  =  1  sageen  =  7  English  feet. 

40  Russ  pounds  =  1  pood  =  36lbs.  English. 
10  poods  =  1  birkweight. 

2  potushka  =  1  denga. 
2  denga  (vulgo  denushka)  =  1  copek 
100  copiki  ^  I  rubles  2  shillings  and  8  pence,  English. 
10  rubles  =  1  imperial. 

There  is  an  agio  in  favour  of  silver,  which  makes  a  silver  ruble  worth  about  one  quarter 
more.     The  lowest  paper  money  is  for  five  rubles.     The  quantity  of  paper  in  circulation  is 

1 


118  BRIDGES. 

CHAP.  «  The  situation  of  Petersburs  is  well  known,  as  well  as  the 


IV 


'805.  obstacles  in  the  way  of  its  navigation,  occasioned  by  the  bar  in  the 
river  on  which  there  are  only  a  few  feet  water.  There  are  three 
large  and  several  small  bridges  over  the  Neva,  Nevka,  and  the 
different  canals.  The  large  ones  are  of  boats;  a  stone  bridge  being 
impracticable  on  account  of  the  depth  and  rapidity  of  the  streams, 
and  the  quantity  of  ice  which  floats  down  in  the  spring.  The 
plan  of  a  wooden  bridge  of  one  arch  to  be  thrown  from  the  place 
where  Peter's  statue  is  now  situated,  to  the  opposite  shore,  has 
been  projected  by  a  peasant,  and  its  model  is  preserved  in  the 
Taurida  garden.  The  difficulty  attending  its  adoption  appears  to 
be  a  doubt  whether  the  wood  would  be  of  sufficient  solidity  to 
bear  its  own  weight.  Iron  would  unquestionably  answer,  provided 
the  banks  on  each  side  are  firm  enough.  A  foundation  of  ice 
might  be  possibly  invented ;  it  has  been  tried  already  in  one  in- 
stance and  found  to  answer,  as  ice  never  thaws  more  than  four  feet 
under  ground.  The  inconveniences  of  the  present  bridge  are 
immense ;  for  many  days  in  the  year  intercourse  of  every  kind  is 
suspended,  as  the  floating  ice  renders  the  passage  of  boats  impos- 
sible.    The  Neva  water  is  reckoned  good  and  wholesome  by  the 


difficult  to  be  ascertained  ;  by  what  we  could  collect  from  prince  Andrew  Wiasemsky  and  Mr. 
Chepotof  at  Moscow,  it  may  be  guessed  at  about  .two  millions.  By  the  law  there  is  a  pre- 
mium on  paper  at  tlie  bank,  in  excliange  for  copper ;  but  according  to  Mr.  Hawes,  a  banker 
at  Moscow,  this  is  sometimes  difficult  to  procure.  The  bank  of  Russia  is  in  the  practice  of 
advancing  money  to  individuals  at  five  or  six  per  cent,  or  more,  according  to  the  security  given. 
In  order  to  facilitate  the  sale  of  land,  it  is  no  uncommon  practice  for  a  person  to  mortgage 
his  estate  to  the  bank,  in  order  to  sell  it,  thus  encumbered,  with  greater  ease  than  otherwise. 
This  is  in  fact  only  to  say,  in  other  words,  that  in  the  sale  of  articles,  the  bank  frequently 
advances  a  part  of  the  money  on  the  security  of  the  land.  There  is  said  to  be  a  very  consi- 
derable treasure  in  gold,  silver,  and  copper  in  ingots,  which  the  late  empress  showed  ostenta- 
tiously to  the  poor  king  of  Sweden.  Paul,  however,  diminished  it  a  little  ;  the  present  monarch 
is  said  to  lay  up  a  great  deal.  Almost  every  department  of  government,  and  every  public 
institution,  has  an  increasing  income  greater  than  the  expenditure.  Part  of  this  surplus 
money  is  laid  out  in  the  purchase  of  land  and  peasants.  The  crown  lands  are  at  present 
immense ;  theyhave  been  more  augmented  by  the  present  emperor  than  by  any  of  his  prede- 
cessors ;  the  policy  of  this  conduct  we  have  heard  variously  stated.  Prince  Dashkof  ques- 
tioned it  strongly,  on  the  ground  that  crown  lands  were  always  the  worst  managed  ;  probably 
one  grand  motive  is  the  gradual  emancipation  of  the  boors. 


ARTELSHIKI.  119 

inhabitants ;  but  on  strangers  it  has  the  same  effect  that  ahnost    chap. 

IV. 

every  other  river  water  produces  at  first.  isos. 

"  The  wharfs,  warehouses,  and  other  scenes  of  business,  are 
in  a  separate  quarter  of  the  town,  where  the  exchange  is  also 
situated  ;  they  are  all  built,  on  the  eastern  system,  round  a  court, 
and  vaulted.  It  is  here  that  hemp,  tallow,  and  various  other  com- 
modities are  laid  up ;  the  hemp  is  pre\nously  sorted  by  sworn 
workmen,  who  have,  by  long  practice,  acquired  a  wonderful  facility 
in  distinguishing  its  quality.  It  is  divided  into  clean,  half  clean, 
outshot,  and  codilla,  which  have  each  their  different  value.  Clean 
hemp  costs  forty  rubles  the  birkweight;  half  clean  about  thirty-eight. 
Besides  these  sworn  workmen  there  is  another  class  of  men  of  great 
use  to  the  mercantile  part  of  the  town,  the  artelshihi.  These  are 
chiefly  natives  of  Archangel  and  its  neighbourhood,  and  are  very 
frequently  freemen ;  they  are  formed  into  a  species  of  clubs  called 
artel,  each  of  which  has  a  common  fund,  in  which  every  person 
makes  a  considerable  deposit  of  caution  money.  The  society  is 
then  answerable  for  the  good  behaviour  of  its  members  ;  these  last 
are  deterred  from  dishonesty  and  drunkenness,  not  only  by  the 
certainty  of  fine  and  expulsion,  but  by  an  esprit  de  corjjs,  which 
they  feel  very  strongly.  Mr.  Jackson  told  me  that  one  of  his  artel- 
shiki,  who  had  been  drunk,  came  to  him,  prostrated  himself  at  his 
feet,  (a  common  practice  among  the  lower  class  of  Russians)  and 
offered  to  pay  any  money  he  might  choose  provided  he  would  not 
disgrace  him  by  complaining  to  his  artel.  These  men  are  used  as 
porters  to  the  warehouses,  and  as  a  kmd  of  trust-worthy  servant 
employed  in  the  counting-houses,  and  in  carrying  messages,  di-afts, 
bills,  &c.  Every  considerable  merchant  has  some  in  his  family; 
and  these,  with  a  dvornie,  or  house-porter,  two  or  three  livery- 
servants,  and  perhaps  three  maid-servants,  constitute  the  general 
establishment  of  smgle  men.  Married  merchants  have  a  much 
larger  household,  and  the  Russian  gentlemen  have  seldom  fewer 
than  fifty,  and  sometimes  as  many  as  500  dependants. 

"  The  principal  articles  of  commerce  in  Petersburg  are  brought 
by  barks  from  the  interior  by  the  native  merchants ;  they  are  then 


120  CZARSKO-ZELO. 

CHAP,  shipped  on  board  lighters,  and  sent  down  the  Gulph  to  Cronstadt, 
^"''^-  where  they  are  again  embarked  on  vessels  of  burthen.  Many  of 
the  smaller  commodities  are  exported  exclusively  by  foreign  na- 
tions, but  none  of  any  great  consequence.  The  tribunal  to  which 
merchants  have  recourse  is  the  Chamber  of  Commerce,  from  whence 
an  appeal  lies  to  the  Senate. 

"  We  were  fortunate  enough  to  arrive  at  Petersburg  a  short 
time  before  the  setting  in  of  the  winter;  and  this  short  time  we  em- 
ployed in  seeing  the  palaces  and  prospects  in  the  city  and  neigh- 
bourhood. Of  the  palaces,  Czarsco-Zelo,  (royal  village,)  Pavlovska, 
Gatchina,  (a  seat  purchased  by  Paul,  when  grand  duke,  from  Prince 
Potemkin,)  very  little  need  be  said ;  they  are  all  brick  buildings, 
slightly  run  up  and  plaistered,  but  very  well  situated.  At  Gatchina 
is  the  most  beautiful  pool  of  clear  water  I  ever  saw,  which  is,  how- 
ever, disgraced  and  put  out  of  countenance  by  a  marshy  artifi- 
cial lake,  separated  from  it  by  a  regular  stone  dam.  Czarsco- 
Zelo,  remarkable  chiefly  for  its  great  size,  and  its  proftision  of  orna- 
ment and  gilding,  was  the  favourite  residence  of  Catherine  the 
Second.  She  added  greatly  to  it ;  in  particular  a  long  gallery, 
with  glass  walls  like  a  green-house,  in  which  she  used  to  walk  in 
winter,  and  where  is  to  be  seen  the  bust  of  Fox  between  Demos- 
thenes and  Cicero ;  this  is,  however,  only  a  copy ;  the  original,  by 
Nollekens,  is  at  the  Taurida.  Fox  fell  into  disgrace  with  the  em- 
press during  the  French  revolution,  and  the  busts  were  removed, 
but  reinstated  by  Paul.  The  situation  of  Czarsco-Zelo  is  the  most 
dirty  and  boggy  conceivable  ;  its  gardens  are  laid  out  in  the  English 
manner ;  and  the  gardener  here,  as  almost  every  where  throughout 
Russia,  is  of  EngUsh  extraction.  One  of  the  things  which  strikes 
a  foreigner  most  in  the  Russian  palaces  is  the  immense  size  of  the 
glass  panes,  which  often  fill  up  a  whole  window,  being  sometimes 
twelve  or  thirteen  feet  high,  by  five  or  six  wide.  The  floors  are  in- 
variably of  wood,  inlaid  in  small  pieces  of  different  grain  and  colour, 
well  waxed  and  polished  (similar  to  what  one  sees  in  some  old 
houses  in  England,  in  Shavington '  for  example.)  Half  way  between 

'  The  seat  of  the  Earl  of  Killmorey,  in  Shropshire. — Ed. 


AVINTER  PALACE.  1-21 

Czarsco-Zelo  and  Petersburg  is  a  building,  professing  itself  to  be  ^'J^^- 
Gothic,  of  red  brick,  where  Potemkin  lived,  and  from  the  towers  of  ^^^- 
which  he  used  to  address  the  Empress,  as  she  passed,  in  the  lan- 
guage of  knight-errantry.  The  famovis  palace  of  the  Taurida, 
which  this  favourite  presented  to  his  mistress,  is  remarkable  for 
nothing  but  its  magnificent  saloon,  which,  with  its  conservatory,  is 
the  most  striking  thing  of  the  kind,  perhaps,  in  the  world.  The  gar- 
dens are  pretty,  but  confined,  and  the  whole  building  externally  is 
neither  large  nor  very  handsome  ;  the  gardener  was  an  old  servant 
of  Mr.  W.  Bootle's,  of  Latham.  The  marble  palace,  which  Cathe- 
rine gave  Potemkin  in  return,  is  only  remarkable  for  its  rich  coat- 
ing ;  it  is  something  like  Queen's  College,  but  on  a  much  smaller 
scale.  The  last  person  who  occupied  it  was  the  unfortunate  King 
of  Poland,  whose  library,  said  to  be  a  valuable  one,  is  in  a  building 
in  the  Nevska  perspective  ;  it  is  distinct  from  the  cabinet,  which  is 
well  known  for  its  valuable  collection  of  books  and  curiosities,  but 
stands  in  the  same  street.  The  winter-palace  is  an  immense  build- 
ing, profusely  ornamented,  and  in  a  very  advantageous  situation, 
containing  some  good  pictures  and  some  enormous  looking-glasses. 
The  private  apartments  of  the  emperor  and  empress  are  remark- 
able for  their  simplicity  and  good  taste.  There  is  another  set  of 
apartments  very  interesting,  as  having  been  occupied  by  Paul,  and 
being  now  preserved  by  his  widow,  the  dowager  empress,  in  exactly 
the  state  they  were  left  at  his  death.  Not  a  book  or  article  of 
furniture  has  been  removed  from  its  exact  place ;  one  book  in  par- 
ticular remains  turned  dowTi  open  on  its  face,  to  mark  where  he 
had  left  off  reading.  The  table  is  covered  with  models  for  cocked 
hats  and  uniforms,  and  the  walls  with  coloured  half  sheets,  repre- 
senting the  uniforms  of  the  different  Russ  regiments ;  his  clothes 
and  linen  are  lying  carelessly  about  the  room,  and  are  preserved 
with  the  same  religious  care.  In  an  adjoining  library  were  de- 
posited regularly  the  standards  of  the  different  regiments  in 
garrison  in  Petersburg,  and  these  have  also  been  allowed  to 
remain. 

"  What  appears  to  be  a  part  of  the  bookcase  slides  back, 

VOL.  I.  R 


122  HERMITAGE. 

CHAP,  and  you  ascend  by  a  dark  and  narrow  stair-case  into  an  unsus- 
^^^^-  pected  suite  of  rooms  above,  small,  low,  and  not  to  be  discovered 
even  on  the  outside  of  the  building  by  those  not  thoroughly 
acquainted  with  it.  They  consist  of  a  bed-room,  study  and  oratory, 
all  filled  with  a  collection  of  miniature  pictures,  and  richly  fur- 
nished :  but  the  appearance  of  the  whole  is  gloomy  and  desolate, 
and  gives  the  idea  of  the  tyrant's  den  in  Dryden's  Sigismonda  and 
Guiscardo.  These  rooms  are  very  seldom  shown,  and  we  were 
obliged  to  Mr.  Pitt,  the  English  clergyman  in  Petersburg,  for 
contriving  to  procure  us  a  sight  of  them.  Though  the  advantage 
of  the  hiding-]3lace  endeared  these  particular  rooms  to  Paul,  he 
passed  but  little  time  in  the  winter  palace,  which  he  disliked  as 
havina;  been  the  residence  of  his  mother.  His  own  favourite  house 
was  the  Michaelofsky  castle,  a  vast  brick  building  surrounded  by 
the  Fontanha  canal,  and  defended  with  granite  bastions,  cannon  and 
drawbridges.  We  saw  its  interior  on  the  occasion  of  a  Tartar 
religious  ceremony  which  was  performed  in  the  great  hall.  The 
furniture  was  once  magnificent,  but  is  now  all  removed,  and  the 
very  walls  are  dismantled  of  their  ornaments ;  the  chambers 
occupied  by  the  emperor,  and  where  he  was  murdered,  are  ex- 
pressly forbidden  to  be  shown ;  we  tried  some  pretty  high  bribery, 
but  it  would  not  do. 

"  The  Tartar  festival  we  saw  was  the  commencement  of  the 
Ramadan  month.  The  number  of  Mahomedans  in  Petersburg 
is  about  six  or  seven  hundred ;  they  are  chiefly  soldiers,  sailors,  or 
hackney-coach  and  sledge  drivers. 

"  Adjoining  to  the  winter  palace  and  connected  with  it  by  an 
arch-way  with  a  covered  gallery,  under  which  flows  the  Moxha 
canal,  is  the  Hermitage,  and  further  on  the  private  theatre.  The 
whole  extent  of  these  three  buildings  fronting  the  river  is,  I  think, 
about  one-third  of  a  mile.  On  entering  the  Hermitage  from  the 
winter  palace,  one  is  surprised  at  finding  a  small  garden  three 
stories  high  from  the  ground  ;  it  is  formed  on  a  leaden  roof,  like 
the  hanging  gardens  of  Babylon.  The  Hermitage  is  a  most  mag- 
nificent  palace  internally;  and  above  all,   is  remarkable  for  the 


& 


PUBLIC  ESTABLISHMENTS.  123 

collection  of  paintings  purchased  by  the  late  empress  from  chap. 
Houghton.  One  of  the  most  striking  pictures  is  a  young  man,  i""^- 
apparently  an  Italian  artist,  in  the  dress  of  Leonardo  da  Vinci's 
time.  I  am  not  sure  whether  it  is  generally  attributed  to  this 
master  or  no  ;  there  are  some  good  Wouvermanns  ;  but  T  was  most 
struck  with  the  Vandykes  from  Houghton,  and  the  chamber  of 
Rembrandt's.  There  is  a  fine  collection,  chiefly  of  smaller  paint- 
ings, in  a  low  covered  gallery,  shaped  like  an  L,  in  which,  about 
half-way  down  the  room,  is  a  magnificent  view  in  the  bay  of 
Naples  by  G.  Poussin.  Both  here  and  at  Gatchina  there  are  some 
fine  Vernets.  The  best  private  collection  in  Petersburg  is  that  of 
Count  Stroganof ;  the  modern  paintings  of  the  academy  of  arts 
are  very  wretched,  but  the  institution  itself  is  noble.  There 
are  about  two  hundred  young  men  educated  as  artists  at  the 
expence  of  the  crown,  who  are,  most  of  them,  lodged,  and  all  fed 
within  its  walls  ;  they  are  clothed  by  government  in  a  uniform  of 
green.  Their  statuary  is  better  than  their  painting.  Admiral 
Chichakof  has  employed  Kerr  Porter  to  paint  some  large  pieces 
for  a  hall  in  the  admiralty. 

"  The  principal  public  establishments  for  education  at  Peters- 
burg are,  the  convent  of  noble  ladies,  the  school  established  by 
the  present  dowager  empress  for  orphans,  the  cadet  corps,  the 
Jesuits'  school,  and  the  Alexandrooka  cotton  fabric,  established  by 
Sir  Charles  Gascoyne.  Two  or  three  hundred  poor  children, 
selected  from  diiferent  orphan  houses  are  here  maintained,  in- 
structed, and  employed  in  spinning  cotton.  Sir  Charles  has  intro- 
duced all  the  refinements  of  English  machinery,  at  which  some 
Englishmen  are  very  angry ;  the  children  were  clean  and  seemed 
well  treated ;  but  nothing  surprised  us  more  than  the  small  size 
and  apparent  youth  of  some  young  women  who  were  married. 
Marriages  are,  it  is  well  known,  early  in  Russia.  The  great  patron 
of  these,  and  of  every  other  charitable  institution,  is  the  dowager 
empress,  whose  sound  judgement,  good  sense  and  good  character 
are  apparently  very  remarkable.  She  shows  great  fondness  for 
every  active  employment ;  and  even  in  her  amusements,  which  are 

R  2 


124 


CHAP. 
IV. 

1805. 


FOREIGNERS  IN  PETERSBURG. 

turning  ivory  and  studying  botany,  she  proves  her  hatred  of 
idleness.  She  is  the  only  person  who  keeps  up  any  degree  of 
state  in  the  empire ;  the  emperor,  his  brother  and  his  wife  live 
more  like  private  persons  than  princes.  The  court  and  the  town 
are  the  dullest  in  the  world.  The  emperor's  greatest  amusement 
consists  in  the  organization  and  diill  of  his  guards,  of  which  the 
daily  parade  is  one  of  the  finest  sights  in  Petersburg;  each 
platoon,  as  the  emperor  passes,  salutes  him  with  a  deep-toned  cry 
of  '  Sdrasta  Alexander  Povlovitz.'  '  Alexander  son  of  Paul,'  it 
is  well  known  is  the  usual  way  in  which  they  speak  of  or  to  the 
emperor,  or  any  other  person ;  when  they  do  not  say  this,  they  call 
their  equals  '  brat,'  brother,  and  their  superiors  *  batuslika,' 
father ;  names  of  family  or  office  are  only  used  when  they  speak 
French  or  German. 

"  There  is  a  strange  melange  of  nations  in  Petersburg,  who 
appear  to  hate  each  other  cordially ;  the  Germans  are  very  unpo- 
pular; and  between  them  and  the  English  there  is  a  constant 
feud  from  the  superiority  of  the  latter  in  riches  and  in  interest  with 
the  great.  The  term  of  '  niemitz,'  dummy,  at  first  given  to  all 
who  could  not  speak  Russ,  is  now  by  the  lower  Russians  used  only 
as  a  reproach  to  the  Germans,  The  French  in  Petersburg  are 
not  very  numerous,  and  are  rather  suspected  people  ;  and  yet  the 
education  of  the  nobles  is  almost  entirely  in  their  hands.  Even  at 
Kostroma  we  found  a  French  tutor,  who  was  a  violent  jacobin ; 
and  perhaps  if  we  had  gone  to  Tobolsk  we  might  have  found  the 
same  thing ;  these  fellows  tell  the  most  infamous  lies  of  England 
without  the  possibility  of  being  contradicted,  as  the  natives  are  all 
ignorant  of  what  happens  out  of  their  own  country;  and  they  have 
no  doubt  succeeded,  in  many  instances,  in  exciting  a  most  un- 
favourable impression  of  our  nation. 

"  The  only  obstacle  to  St.  Petersburg's  becoming  the  noblest 
city  in  the  world  is  its  want  of  good  materials.  Its  quays  of  hewn 
granite  are  all  that  are  likely  to  go  down  to  a  very  distant  posterity; 
and  if  the  court  were  removed,  a  hundred  years  would  almost  destroy 
every  vestige  of  its  present  grandeur.     Even  the  new  Cathedral  of 


ISAAC'S  PLACE— SENATE.  125 

Casan,  which  is  a  magnificent  specimen  of  genius,  is  of  so  perish-  chap. 
able  a  stone  (excepting  the  granite  pillars  within)  that  they  intend  ""'^- 
to  cover  it  with  stucco  and  white- wash.  The  only  large  square  in 
the  town  is  that  before  the  winter  palace ;  the  Isaac's  place  is  a 
vast  irregular  area,  containing  the  marble  Church  of  St.  Isaac,  and 
the  famous  statue  of  Peter  the  Great ;  it  is  formed  on  one  side  by 
the  boulevard,  a  gravel-walk,  planted  with  lime-trees,  carried  along 
the  glacis  of  the  admiralty,  which  the  present  emperor  has  levelled 
for  the  purpose.  On  the  other  side  is  the  building  appropriated 
for  the  senate  ;  this  body  it  is  kno^^^l  is  the  high  court  of  justice 
of  the  country,  and  to  which  appeals  lie  from  all  the  others.  It  is 
divided  into  two  chambers,  one  held  at  Petersburg,  the  other  at 
Moscow,  each  composed  of  four  classes,  with  a  different  employ- 
ment for  each.  The  reigning  emperor  has  conceded  to  them  the 
privilege  of  enregistering  the  imperial  edicts  like  the  parliaiuent  of 
Paris,  and  even  of  rejecting  them  a  first  and  second  time ;  if,  how- 
ever, they  are  msisted  on  the  third  time,  they  are  to  submit.  The 
internal  jurisdiction  of  the  country  is  entrusted  to  tribunals,  which 
ai'e  erected  in  every  district  in  the  following  manner : — the  nobles 
elect  two  chiefs ;  the  burghers  two  ;  and  the  crown  appoints  two 
more,  one  of  whom  is  always  president ;  these  six  compose  the 
court,  in  which,  when  there  is  an  equality  of  votes,  the  president 
has  an  additional  casting  voice.  The  justice  of  Russia  is  said  to  be 
very  corrupt. 

"  During  our  stay  at  Petersburg,  we  made  an  excursion  with 
Pollen  to  the  iron-works  managed  for  the  government  by  his  father- 
in-law,  Mr.  Gascoyne,  at  Colpina.  These  works  are  extremely 
interesting ;  they  are  constructed  in  a  kind  of  amphitheatre,  round 
a  basin  which  comnmnicates  with  a  canal,  the  whole  lined  with 
granite  quays  of  great  beauty.  In  one  part  we  observed  nearly 
sixty  persons  employed  in  raising  a  small  weight  for  driving  piles, 
to  effect  which  twenty  men  would,  in  England,  have  been  thought 
too  many.  The  waste  of  labour  is  excessive  every  where  in 
Russia,  as  it  must  be  where  the  labourers  are  slaves  ;  (the  Russians 


126  IRON  WORKS— POLICE. 

CHAP,    themselves  own  that  free  servants  and  labourers  are  cheaper  in  the 

IV. 

1805.  Ions-run  than  slaves.)  I  admired  much  the  manner  in  which  a 
constant  stream  of  water  was  supplied  to  a  saw-mill,  from  a  fall  at 
a  few  yards  distance ;  by  means  of  a  stove  the  water  in  the  pipe 
and  cistern  was  brought  to  the  wheel  without  freezing,  and  the 
whole  machinery  was  very  simple  and  ingenious. 

"  Here,  as  well  as  at  Petrozovodsky,  in  the  government  of 
Olonetz,  and  at  Susterbeck  in  Carelia,  is  a  manufacture  of  arms. 
All  the  Russian  musquets,  their  screws,  locks,  stocks,  worm-pickers, 
and  all  other  the  most  minute  parts  are  made  in  conformity  to  an 
exact  guage  ;  by  this  excellent  system  nothing  is  wasted,  as  from 
two  or  three  useless  musquets  they  may  always  make  one  good 
one,  and  the  sound  parts  of  their  unserviceable  arms  may  be  always 
made  use  of  for  the  repair  of  others.  At  Petrozovodsky  the  iron 
is  drawn  by  poles  out  of  the  Ladoga  lake ;  or  rather  the  mud,  im- 
pregnated with  ferruginous  particles,  is  thus  collected  and  brought 
by  the  peasants  to  the  fahrique.  These  iron-works  were  all 
founded  by  Peter  the  Great. 

"  The  Church  of  St.  Nicholas  of  Colpina,  and  his  image,  are 
very  famous  for  their  miracles.  A  Russian  professes  never  to  sell 
the  images  of  his  saints ;  he,  however,  hawks  them  about  the 
streets,  and  exchanges  them  for  other  saints,  or  money  to  huy  them. 
The  Russian  system  of  crossing  themselves  is  with  three  fingers, 
except  the  Raskolniki,  who  only  use  two ;  a  bloody  war  was  once 
the  consequence  of  this  distinction. 

"  The  police  of  Petersburg  is  very  rigid  ;  it  consists  of  one 
general,  several  deputies,  and  three  or  four  troops  of  cavalry,  who 
are  employed  exclusively  for  this  purpose.  They  are  anned  with 
pistols  and  short  sabres,  and  patrole  night  and  day,  sometimes  on 
horseback  and  sometimes  on  foot;  there  is  also  a  watchman 
stationed  at  the  corner  of  every  street  night  and  day,  distinguished 
by  a  rattle,  a  wide  great  coat,  a  leather  helmet,  and  a  kind  of 
battle-axe.  These  men  are  relieved  every  six  hours  ;  they  have 
a  small  box,  but  larger  than  our  watchmen  have,  provided  with 


WASHERWOMEN— SLEDGE  DRIVING.  127 

a  stove,  so   that   they  are   preserved  from  the   cold.     In  every    chap. 
government  town  the  same  arrangement  takes  place  on  a  smaller      i8»5. 
scale  \ 

"  The  river,  while  frozen,  is  sometimes  considered  dangerous 
to  cross  by  night,  being  far  removed  from  houses  or  lamps  ;  and  the 
different  holes  which  are  made  to  wash  linen,  afford  a  convenient 
hiding-place  for  murdered  bodies. 

"  The  washing  of  clothes  at  Petersburg  is  very  remarkable;  it 
is  done  by  women,  who  stand  for  hours  on  the  ice,  plunging  their 
bare  arms  into  the  freezing  water,  in,  perhaps,  eighteen  or  twenty 
degrees  of  frost.  They  shelter  themselves  from  the  wind,  which  is 
the  most  bitter  part  of  winter — fifteen  degrees  of  frost,  with  wind, 
being  more  severe  than  twenty-five  or  thirty  without — by  means 
of  large  fir  branches  stuck  in  the  ice,  on  which  they  hang  mats. 
In  general  the  women  seem  to  be  more  regardless  of  cold  than  the 
men ;  they  seldom,  even  in  the  most  intense  cold,  wear  any  thing 
on  their  heads  but  a  silk  handkerchief  These  handkerchiefs  are 
sometimes  very  beautiful,  and  embroidered  richly  with  gold.  Silk 
is  generally  cheap  in  Russia,  and  is  much  more  commonly  worn 
by  the  lower  classes  than  elsewhere.  Thus  clad,  but  with  their 
bodies  well  guarded  by  furs,  the  Russian  women  are  very  fond  of 
night  promenades  in  sledges. 

"  Of  sledge-driving  the  natives  are  very  fond,  and  the  race- 
course on  the  ice  before  the  palace  is  numerously  attended.  The 
racing-sledge  is  small  and  light,  drawTi  by  one  horse,  who  is  not 
allowed  to  break  into  a  gallop.  These  horses  are  trained,  when 
young,  to  great  speed  in  their  trot,  by  being  obliged  to  keep  up 
with  others  cantering  by  their  sides.  The  sledges  of  pleasure  most 
used  are  drawn  by  two  horses,  one  of  whom  is  in  shafts,  and  trots  ; 
the  other  is  called  the  'furieux,'  and  capers  and  prances  beside 
him.     One  servant  drives,   and  another,  standing  behind  the  car- 

'  The  Russians  boast  much  of  the  excellence  of  their  police.  Colonel  Villiachef,  at 
Yroslav,  told  me  that  before  its  institution,  in  no  country  were  murders,  highway  robberies, 
&c.  so  numerous  or  daring  as  in  Russia  ;  at  present  they  are  not  very  frequent,  though  more 
so  than  might  be  supposed  from  the  severity  and  apparent  vigilance  of  the  magistrates. 


128  AURORA  BOREALIS. 

CHAP,     riage,  holds  the  rein  of  the  furieux,  whose  head  he  ahnost  turns 
^^^^-      round  m  a  most  unnatural  and  ridiculous  attitude ;  these  horses 
have  all  long  manes  and  tails,  lengthened  by  art. 

"  Carriages,  those  of  merchants  excepted,  are  all  drawn  by 
four  horses ;  the  postillion  rides  on  the  off-side.  The  usual  charge 
of  a  carriage  and  four,  all  expences  included,  is  about  two  hundred 
rubles  monthly.  The  horses  and  servants  are  very  hardly  used, 
being  frequently  obliged  to  stand  half  a  day  and  all  night  in  the 
open  air,  exposed  to  severe  cold.  In  the  neighbourhood  of  the 
Greek  theatre  large  fires  are  lighted  under  a  kind  of  copper 
umbrella  for  their  use,  and  all  public  amusements  are  forbidden 
when  the  cold  is  seventeen  degrees. 

"  The  nights  are  sometimes  very  beautiful,  but  I  saw  little  or 
no  aurora  horealis.  Count  Caambe,  the  Danish  secretary  of  lega- 
tion, said  it  never  was  seen  very  brilliant  in  this  city ;  but  he  spoke 
with  rapture  of  its  beauty  in  Lapland  and  East  Bothnia,  which  he 
had  traversed  the  winter  before." 


To  Mrs.  Heher. 

Petersburg. 
"  My  Dear  Mother, 

"  As  ill  news  flies  always  swift,  you  are,  no  doubt,  by 
this  time  as  perfectly  acquainted  with  the  dreadful  calamities  which 
have  befallen  Europe,  as  we  can  be  in  Petersburg.  Here,  indeed, 
news  is  slowly  and  obscurely  communicated  to  the  public ;  and  all 
the  information  that  has  yet  been  given,  has  merely  transpired 
through  private  channels.  The  loss  on  the  side  of  the  Russians 
is,  we  are  assured,  much  less  than  was  at  first  reported ;  their 
courage  and  conduct  appear  unimpeached  ;  it  can  scarcely  be 
believed,  what  I  have  myself  heard  from  one  of  the  Emperor's 
aides-de-camp,  that  while  both  Austrians  and  French  wanted 
nothing,  the  Russians  were  without  provisions  for  above  four-and- 
twenty  hours ;  and  that  when  the  Emperor  Alexander  was  taken 


EMPEROR'S  RETURN  TO  PETERSBURG.  129 


very  seriously  ill,  and  sent  to  his  brother  of  Austria  for  a  bottle     chap. 
of  wine,  it  was,  after  a  long  treaty,  refused  him.  i^os. 


"  Both  Alexander  and  Constantine  distinguished  themselves 
greatly ;  the  latter,  it  is  said,  for  nothing  certain  is  knowTi,  is 
wounded.  The  emperor  has  been  requested,  since  his  return,  to 
assume  the  military  order  of  St.  George,  which  he  had  never 
taken  before,  always  professmg  to  defer  it  till  he  had  earned  his 
spurs.  Even  now  he  replied  \nth  much  modesty,  that  the  first 
class,  or  great  cross,  was  destined  for  great  conquerors  or  generals  ; 
that  he  had  liimself  done  little  more  than  most  officers  in  his  army, 
and  should  not  assume  a  higher  rank  than  a  chevalier  of  the  third 
class.     *         * 

"  In  consequence  of  the  peace  which  Austria  has  made,  and 
the  subsequent  withdrawal  of  the  Russian  troops,  the  emperor  has 
been  some  days  returned  to  Petersburg  ;  we  were,  of  course,  eager 
to  see  him,  and  were  fortunate  enough  to  have  several  opportu- 
nities. His  arrival  was  perfectly  sudden  and  unexpected ;  he  was 
at  Gatchina,  thirty  miles  from  hence,  before  his  setting  out  from 
the  army  was  known,  and  arrived  in  Petersburg  about  five  in  the 
morning ;  his  first  visit  was  paid  to  the  Cathedral  of  our  Lady  of 
Casan,  where  he  spent  some  time  in  prayer ;  he  then  joined  his 
wife  and  mother  at  the  palace.  The  people,  in  the  mean  time, 
assembled  in  prodigious  crowds  before  the  gate ;  and  when,  about 
half-past  nine,  he  came  out  to  inspect  the  guard,  the  whole  mob 
gave  one  of  the  most  tremendous  and  universal  shouts  which  I  ever 
heard;  they  thronged  round  him,  kissing  his  hands,  his  boots  and 
clothes,  with  an  enthusiasm  which  perfectly  disregarded  the  threats 
and  cudgels  of  the  police-officers.  Some  men  were  telling  their 
beads  and  crossing  themselves ;  others,  with  long  black  beards, 
crying  and  blubbering  like  children,  and  the  whole  scene  was  the 
most  afiecting  picture  of  joy  which  I  ever  saw.     When  he  was 

VOL.  I.  s 


130  LEVY  FOR  THE  ARMY, 

cH^i'-     at  length  disengaged  he   went  along  the  line,  each  company  as 
'^"^-      he    passed   giving    him    the   deep-toned    short   cheer,   which  is 
their  customary   morning    exclamation,    '  Bless   you,    Alexander 
Povlovitz.'     His   person  is  not  unlike  the  idea  I  had   previously 
formed,  though  he  is  rather  thinner  and  slighter  made.     I  can- 
not help  fancying  that  his  countenance  is  strongly  expressive  of  the 
great  fatigue  and  inquietude  which  he  has  undergone ;  but  as  I  never 
saw  him  before,  I  am,  of  course,  very  vmable  to  judge  of  his  present 
looks.     He  is  certainly  a  handsome  man,  but  loses  much  of  his 
height  by  stooping,  which  is,  perhaps,  occasioned  by  his  being  very 
short-sighted.     His  arrival  has  contributed  greatly  to  keep  up  the 
spirits  of  the  Petersburgers,  who  comfort  themselves   now  with 
abusing  the  conduct  of  Austria,  and  submit  with  great  cheerfulness 
to  a  new  levy  of  one  man  in  every  hundred.     Volunteer  corps  are 
also  talked  of,  but  will  never,  I   think,  be  adopted ;  one  circum- 
stance which  has  surprized  me  much,  as  being  directly  contrary  to 
our  ideas  of  a  Russian  levy,  is  its  expense,  not  indeed  to  govern- 
ment, but  to  individuals ;  the  usual  price  of  a  substitute  for  the 
army  is  three  or  four  hundred  rubles,  about  forty  pounds  ;  and  even 
the  proprietors  of  land  find,  in  so  thinly  peopled  a  country,  the 
loss  of  some  of  their  ablest  hands  a  very  considerable  burthen. 
Much  of  this  inconvenience  is,  however,  I  think,  imaginary,   as 
every  person  keeps  exactly  ten  times  the  number  of  servants  which 
we  do  in  England,  which  could  not  be  the  case  were  labour  so  dear 
as  we  are  sometimes  told  it  is.     Mr.  Dimidof,  with  whom  we  have 
dined  to  day,  said  that  he  had  125  servants  in  his  town-house,  and 
many  persons  had  twice  that  number,  all  of  them  peasants  and  all 
their  own  property.     Even   a  merchant  keeps  many  more  than 
those  of  the  same  class  in  England,  and  as  they  are  not  proprietors 
of  peasants  they  pay  very  high  wages.      The   Russians   reckon 
their  population  at  forty  millions,   and  say  that  this  new  levy  will 
add  about  60,000  men  to  their  present  army. 

"  The  emperor  is  not  the  only  sight  we  have  seen,  having 
been  at  court,  and  at  a  grand  religious  ceremony  of  the  Tartars. 
We  have  as  yet  only  been  to  court  as  spectators,  as  there  is,  at 


EMPEROR'S  COURT.  131 


present,  no  English  ambassador  here  to  introduce  us  ;  but  having  chap. 
a  recommendation  to  the  master  of  the  ceremonies,  he  very  kindly  i^o-^- 
gave  us  an  opportunity  of  seeing  every  thing  to  the  best  advan- 
tage, and  introduced  us  to  a  gentleman  who  explained  their  reli- 
gious ceremonies,  for  all  the  levees  and  drawing-rooms  begin  with 
service  in  the  chapel.  On  our  first  entrance  into  the  room  we 
found  it  full  of  officers  and  foreign  ministers,  who  ranged  them- 
selves in  two  lines  for  the  empress  to  pass  through  from  the  inner 
room,  followed  by  all  her  ladies,  to  the  chapel ;  at  the  upper  end 
stood  the  senators  and  officers  of  the  state,  then  the  rest  of  the 
spectators,  and  the  lower  end  of  the  room  was  occupied  by  Cossak 
officers,  wild,  savage-looking  fellows,  whose  long  black  hair,  bare 
necks,  long  flowing  garments  and  crooked  scimitars,  formed  a 
striking  contrast  with  the  bags  and  powdered  wigs  of  the  rest  of 
the  party.  The  chapel  was  crowded,  and  the  singing  the  most 
beautiful  I  ever  heard  ;  no  musical  instruments  are  allowed  by  the 
Greek  Church,  and  never  was  more  delightful  harmony  produced 
by  vocal  performers.  The  effect  was  very  grand  when  the  singing 
suddenly  ceased,  and  the  vast  folding-doors  of  the  sanctuary  were 
thrown  open,  and  the  gilded  altar  and  the  priests  (who  are  all 
selected  for  their  beards  and  stature)  were  discovered  amid  a  cloud 
of  incense.  During  the  service  the  empress  stood  on  a  step  in  the 
middle  of  the  aisle,  as  no  seats  are  allowed  by  the  Greeks  in  their 
Churches.  But  little  attention  was  paid  to  the  service  by  the  greater 
part  of  the  audience,  though  some  continued  bowing  and  crossing 
themselves  the  whole  time.  After  the  bishop  had  given  the  final 
blessing,  I  was  surprised  to  see  the  beautiful  young  empress,  for  I 
really  think  her  very  much  so,  kiss  his  hand,  which  he  returned  on 
her  hand  and  cheek ;  and  his  example  was  followed  by  the  whole 
tribe  of  ecclesiastics,  a  race  of  as  dirty  monks  as  ever  ate  salt  fish. 
The  English  clergy  will,  I  fear,  never  be  able  to  obtain  a  privilege 
like  this. 

"  The  other  ceremony  I  mentioned  was  the  commencement 
of  the  month  Ramadan,  or  Mahomedan  Lent,  and  was  chiefly 
remarkable  for  its  novelty,  and  for  the  number  of  the  followers  of 

s  2 


132  KiMADAN. 


CHAP.     Mahomet  among  the  lower  classes  of  Petersburg.     It  must  also 


IV. 


^»o^-  be  observed  that  they  were  the  most  decent,  attentive  congregation 
that  I  have  seen  since  I  left  England.  The  ceremony  was  performed 
in  the  great  hall  of  the  palace,  (now  deserted  and  almost  ruined) 
which  Paul  built,  and  where  his  life  was  terminated ;  their  mode  of 
worship  is  very  singular,  as  were  the  difficulties  to  which  they  were 
some  of  them  put  to  comply  with  the  laws  of  their  prophet.  I 
saw  one  sailor  strip  himself  almost  naked  that  he  might  not  be 
obliged  to  wear  a  green  uniform  when  at  prayer,  green  being  for- 
bidden to  all  but  the  lineal  descendants  of  Mahomet.  The  same 
caution  was  visible  in  their  place  of  worship ;  it  was  decorated  with 
sculpture  and  eagles,  all  which  they  carefully  concealed  with  sheets, 
lest  their  eyes  should  meet  an  idol. 

"  I  little  thought  I  should  hear  the  Alcoran  read,  or  be  dinned 
by  exclamations  of  Allah,  Allah  Acbar.  This  is  indeed  the  only 
sight  of  Mahomedan  manners  which,  in  all  probability,  I  shall 
ever  have,  as,  unless  very  good  news  comes,  we  shall  certainly  not 
think  of  Constantinople,  but  return  much  sooner  than  we  at  first 
intended  to  our  respective  volunteers ;  pray  commend  me  to  the 
Hodnet  company,  and  tell  them  I  am  doing  my  utmost  to  gain 
information  which  may  be  useful  to  them,  if  they  are  ever  brought 
into  action ;  and  that  the  more  I  see  of  the  miserable  state  of 
Europe,  I  am  the  more  convinced  that  Englishmen  will  shortly 
have  to  depend  on  their  own  patriotism,  and  their  own  bayonets. 
Hostilities  are  indeed  a  dreadful  subject  to  occupy  our  letters  and 
our  conversation,  and  woe  to  the  man  who  can  view  them  with 
indifference  !  Russia,  I  beUeve,  is  firm,  but  Russia  is  herself  in  the 
greatest  danger.  We  have  the  comfort,  however,  of  being  within 
a  three  weeks  journey  from  England. 

"  We  set  out  to  Moscow  to-morrow,  and  shall  stay  there  about 
six  weeks ;  our  route  from  thence  will  be  determined  by  circum- 
stances ;  but  Poland  is  so  detestable  a  country  to  traverse,  that  we 
have  every  motive  of  convenience  and  curiosity  to  come  back  by 
Petersburg,  Riga,  and  Mittau.  At  that  place  we  expect  an  intro" 
duction  from  the  French  minister  here,  to  the  little  court  of  the 


LIVONIAN  PEASANTS.  133 

unfortunate  king  of  France.  Pollen,  who  has  been  exceedmgly  chap. 
kind  and  hospitable,  has  given  us  letters  to  Warsaw,  Berlin,  and  '"fs. 
Dresden,  and  to  Moscow  we  have  recommendations  without  end. 
He  invited  us  the  other  day  to  a  villa  of  his  father's-in-law,  about 
300  miles  off,  to  shoot  bears  ;  as,  however,  the  expedition  was  to 
occupy  a  whole  month,  we  thought  it  better  to  decline  it.  You 
cannot  conceive  the  warmth  of  our  clothing  for  this  journey  to 
Moscow — a  warmth  wliich  the  mildness  of  the  winter  has  hitherto 
rendered  unnecessary,  but  which  we  are  assured  is  absolutely 
requisite  to  save  us  from  freezing  in  the  cold  nights  which  we  must 
encounter  on  our  journey.     From  Moscow  you  shall  hear  from  me 


agam. 


CRONSTADT. 

"  From  Petersburg  to  Cronstadt  (by  land  to  Oranienbaum, 
and  then  across  the  Gulph)  is  about  forty-five  versts :  by  sea  the 
direct  chstance  is  twenty-seven,  and  there  are  pacquet-boats  dm-ing 
tlie  summer ;  in  \vinter  the  journey  over  the  ice  is  very  short. 
We  went  to  Cronstadt  by  Oranienbaum,  for  the  sake  of  seeing  the 
palace  there,  and  another  at  Peterhof.  The  country  is  not  abso- 
lutely barren,  nor  uninteresting,  but  as  nearly  so  as  may  be.  It  is 
very  full  of  villas,  and  not  quite  so  flat  as  the  eastern  side  of  Peters- 
burg. It  is  a  part  of  ancient  Livonia,  but  is  now,  from  its  vicinity  to 
Petersbm-g,  assimilated  with  the  Russians.  Stuart  told  me  that  the 
Livonian  peasants  were  the  most  miserable  and  oppressed  by  their 
lords  of  any  district  m  Russia ;  and  that  some  laws  had  been 
made  expressly  in  then'  favoiu',  as  being  subject  to  particular  and 
crying  abuses.  They  are  called,  together  with  Courland  and 
Esthonia,  the  '  German  provinces.'  I  think  Coxe  supposes  that 
in  Livonia  the  peasants  are  free,  which,  as  far  as  I  could  ascertain 
from  what  Stuart  said,  as  well  as  Baron  Bode,  who  had  himself 
property  there,  is  an  erroneous  statement '.     In  the  isle  of  Dago  a 

'  See  also  Tooke  concernina  Esthonia  and  the  isle  of  Dago. 


134  PALACE  OF  PETERHOF. 


CHAP,    singular  piece  of  atrocity  was  lately  discovered,  of  which  we  were 


IV. 


1805.  informed  by  Mr.  Krehmer.  A  nobleman  residing  there  constantly 
hung  out  false  lights,  to  cause  shipwrecks ;  and  with  the  assistance 
of  his  people  murdered  the  seamen  who  escaped  ;  he  enjoyed  the 
plunder  for  many  years,  and  was  convicted  with  difficulty,  as  his 
slaves  were  the  only  evidence,  and  it  is  forbidden  to  receive  the 
testimony  of  a  slave  against  his  master;  at  last  he  was  found 
guilty  by  the  evidence  of  his  own  son.  Enormities  of  this  kind 
are,  however,  uncommon  in  the  Baltic ;  and  very  seldom  indeed 
are  the  fishermen  and  others  backward  in  assisting  vessels ;  this 
good  effect  is  produced  by  the  high  salvage  allowed  by  law,  which 
is  greatly  above  that  in  any  other  sea. 

"  The  palace  of  Peterhof  was  erected  by  Peter  the  Great, 
soon  after  the  foundation  of  his  capital.  The  plan  of  the  gardens 
and  grounds  is  Dutch ;  the  situation,  however,  is  magnificent,  and 
the  whole,  from  the  gardens,  has  an  air  of  ancient  grandeur  which 
is  very  imposing.  The  house  is  not  magnificent ;  it  is  built  of  red 
brick,  and  stands  on  a  high  and  steep  bank,  which  is  formed  into  a 
sort  of  amphitheatre  of  fountains  and  cascades,  with  gods  and  god- 
desses without  end.  The  jets  d'eau  are  boasted  of  by  the  Russians 
as  equal  to  those  at  Versailles,  and  the  effect  on  a  hot  day  I  can 
conceive  to  be  very  delightful ;  even  the  long  straight  alleys  are 
far  better  and  more  agreeable  for  walking  than  the  being  burnt  on  a 
red-hot  lawn.  These  gardens  are  lighted  up  one  night  in  every  sum- 
mer, and  a  public  masquerade  given  to  all  decently  dressed  persons. 
In  Catherine's  time  this  was  a  magnificent  thing,  and  the  delight 
of  the  bourgeoisie  of  Petersburg ;  at  present  the  frugahty  of  the 
emperor  has  greatly  diminished  its  splendour,  and  in  a  few  years 
it  is  expected  to  be  given  up  entirely.  At  the  bottom  of  the  hill, 
close  to  the  edge,  and  even  dashed  by  the  waves  of  the  Gulph,  is 
the  cottage  or  summer-house  which  Peter  frequently  inhabited, 
and  the  temperature  of  which  he  found  necessary  to  his  feverish 
constitution.  It  is  a  small  brick  building  of  one  story,  with  windows 
down  to  the  ground,  containing  six  or  eight  rooms,  and  fitted  up 
like  a  Dutch  villa.     The  furniture  is  precisely  what  Peter  left,  and 


ORANIENBAUM.  135 

the  bed  and  even  sheets  are  preserved.  It  is  ftu-nlshed  in  a  simple  chap. 
and  in  what  was  then  considered,  a  gentlemanhke  manner,  some-  i""^- 
thing  hke  an  Enghsh  house  of  about  Queen  Anne's  time,  with 
beaufets,  corner-cupboards,  and  oak  wainscotted  rooms,  all  floored 
mth  Dutch  tiles,  which  he  liked  for  then*  coolness.  There  is  a 
small  collection  of  Dutch  paintuigs  made  by  himself  when  in  Hol- 
land ;  and  every  thing  shows  how  much  he  wished  to  recollect  the 
active  and  interesting  time  he  had  passed  as  '  Master  Peter,'  at 
Sardam.  His  portrait  in  this  charactei',  drinking  with  the  ship-car- 
penter, his  master  and  instructor,  hangs  in  a  small  gallery  wliich 
forms  the  right  wing ;  above  is  a  view  of  a  cellar  w  hich  he  fre- 
quented at  Sardam ;  his  own  portrait  is  here  again  introduced, 
with  that  of  a  girl,  the  cellar-keeper's  daughter,  to  whom  he  was 
much  attached.  Some  of  the  other  rooms  are  furnished  entirely 
with  his  own  hand ;  the  beaufets  and  writing-desks  are  made  by 
himself. 

"  After  so  interesting  a  place  as  Peterhof  there  is  little  at 
Oranienbaum  to  attract  attention.  The  house  originally  built  by 
Menzikof  for  himself  is  very  small  and  mean  ;  and  there  is  nothing 
in  the  gardens  but  a  fljing  mountain,  where  Catherine  was  nearly 
losing  her  Ufe,  and  only  saved  by  the  prodigious  strength  of  Alexis 
Orlof  There  is  also  a  paviUon  where  she  hved  during  the 
reign  of  Ehzabeth ;  it  is  fitted  up  with  tapestry  worked  by  the 
old  princess  Wyasemsky,  as  she  herself  told  us.  The  fortifica- 
tion where  Peter  IH.  lived  is  now  in  ruins,  having  been  dis- 
mantled by  Paul ;  between  this  fortification  and  the  gardens  is 
a  Httle  neglected  valley  filled  with  hazels  and  alders,  and  with  a 
brook  running  in  the  bottom,  which  Thornton  discovered  with 
great  joy  as  the  only  place  he  could  find  which  had  escaped  the 
shears,  the  spade,  and  the  other  expensive  deformities  wliich  sur- 
rounded us. 

"  From  Oranienbaum  to  the  sea,  about  a  verst,  a  straight 
canal  is  di-awn  exactly  at  right  angles  to  the  great  gate  ;  on  this 
we  embarked,  and  after  a  rather  heavy  pull  across  the  Gulph, 
landed  at   Cronstadt.     The   channel   for   vessels   of   burthen   is 


136  CRONSTADT.        -^ 

CHAP,     narrow ;  the  rest  is  all  a  shallow  with  not  more  than  six  or  eight 


IV. 


1805.  feet  water ;  it  is  owing  to  this  circumstance  that  the  Gulph  of 
Finland  is  so  soon  frozen.  On  the  left-hand  in  passing  from 
Oranienbaum  is  a  new  battery  on  a  small  island,  which  is  called 
Nelson's  battery,  as  having  been  erected  about  the  time  he  was 
expected.  Between  this  island  and  the  to^^^l  is  the  channel  for 
shijiping,  though  even  in  that  space,  about  two  versts,  are  many 
shallows.  The  two  harbours  are  entirely  artificial,  being  simply 
large  wet  docks  fenced  from  the  sea  by  prodigious  granite  moles ; 
one  is  exclusively  appropriated  to  ships  of  war ;  and  both  have 
every  appearance  of  great  security  and  convenience.  The  whole 
island,  seven  versts  long  by  about  one  in  breadth,  is  surrounded 
by  a  granite  wall ;  but  its  principal  security  against  attack  is,  no 
doubt,  the  shoal  water.  If  however  Nelson's  battery  were  silenced, 
I  do  not  think  that  even  tliis  would  have  availed  very  much.  The 
merchants'  harbour  is  small,  and  the  vessels  are  literally  packed 
like  sheep  in  a  fold.  At  the  entrance  of  the  mole,  which  is 
perhaps  twenty  yards  wide,  a  sentinel  hails  every  boat  that  enters, 
and  every  person  must  produce  his  passport.  We  had  forgotten 
ours,  but  having  letters  to  Mr.  Booker,  post  agent  to  several  of  the 
English  merchants,  he  contrived  to  obtain  oiu*  admission.  We 
were  much  struck  by  the  multitude  of  shops,  ale-houses,  and 
similar  buildings,  with  Enghsh  signs  and  inscriptions;  and  the 
sounds  which  came  from  the  harbour  were  mingled  with  English 
words.  Probably  two-thirds  of  the  shipping  there  were  English 
or  American. 

"  A  large  canal  runs  through  the  town,  leading  to  some  beau- 
tiful dry  docks  in  the  centre  of  the  island  ;  we  were  taken  round 
these,  as  well  as  to  every  thing  else  that  was  remarkable,  by  a 
Captain  Crow,  an  Englishman  in  the  Russian  service.  No  ships 
are  built  at  Cronstadt ;  they  are  all  constructed  in  the  admiralty 
at  Petersburg,  and  floated  down  on  camels  over  the  bar;  this 
strains  them  terribly ;  but  the  situation  of  the  admu'alty  was 
assigned  by  Peter  the  Great  to  the  place  where  he  could  himself 
daily  inspect  every  thing  that  was  going  on.     At  present,  however, 


RUSSIAN  NA^^.  137 

person  and  servant ;  it  is  even  strictly  forbidden,  under  a  heavy    chap. 
several  of  their  vessels  are  built  at  Archangel,  which  is,  on  some      ^s"^- 
accounts,  a  more  convenient  situation  than  Petersburg.     Perhaps 
a  new  town  about  to    be   erected  near  the  embouchure  of  the 
Petchora  may  be  still  better. 

"  The  Russians  sailors  during  the  winter  are  all  in  barracks, 
which  are  kept  very  clean,  and  the  men  are  generally  healthy. 
Their  pay  is  only  eight  rubles  per  year,  but  they  have  an  allow- 
ance of  rye-bread  when  on  shore ;  at  sea,  of  coiu*se  their  provisions 
are  provided  for  them.  They  are  employed  in  various  singular 
ways,  both  here  and  at  Petersburg,  during  their  long  stay  on 
shore.  We  met  many  of  them  canning  the  pictures  and  fur- 
niture into  the  Hermitage.  Captain  Crow  told  us  that  Chichakof 
had  effected  great  refonns  in  the  Russian  navy ;  he  showed  us 
several  old  sliips  which  he  had  ordered  to  be  broken  up,  and  which 
certainly  were  a  most  extraordinary  contrast  with  the  new  ones 
then  in  dock  to  be  finished  and  rigged.  Many  of  the  old  ones  had 
been  run  up  in  the  greatest  haste  during  the  sudden  exigency  of 
the  Swedish  war.  We  saw  no  galleys,  except  a  few  that  were  com- 
pletely unserviceable,  and  none  ai'e  now  built.  The  largest  ship 
in  the  Russ  navy  is  of  130  gims,  but  would  not,  according  to  the 
English  system,  carry  above  one  hundred. 

"  The  usual  time  of  the  ice  setting  in  at  Cronstadt  and  in  the 
Neva  is  generally  about  the  beginning  of  November,  and  it  breaks 
up  about  the  end  of  March.  The  Gulph  of  Finland  is  generally 
frozen  before  the  Gulph  of  Botluiia,  and  Riga  is  sometimes  open 
three  weeks  longer." 

JOURNEY  FROM  PETERSBURG  TO  MOSCOW. 

"  We  left  Petersburg  the  night  of  the  30th  December  1805. 
It  had  been  our  intention  to  set  out  early  in  the  morning,  but  the 
never-failing  delay  in  procuring  the  padorashna  prevented  us. 
To  procure  one  it  is  necessary  to  send  in  the  passports  of  every 

VOL.  I.  T 


138  RUSSIAN  SYSTEM  OF  POSTING. 

CHAP,  fine,  to  keep  or  entertain  any  person  without  a  passport,  and  a 
1805.  master  is  answerable  for  his  servant.  We  saw  an  instance  at  the 
barrier  going  out  of  Petersburg  of  the  ideas  which  the  Russians 
entertain  respecting  merchants  :  one  of  our  party,  who  was  entered 
in  his  passport  '  Enghsh  merchant,'  had  some  very  causeless  ti'ouble 
given  him  by  a  stupid  police-officer,  who,  at  the  same  time,  respected 
the  sanctity  of  Thornton's  passport  and  my  own,  because  we  were 
put  down  duwanini,  or  gentlemen.  We  had  engaged  free  horses 
to  take  us  the  first  sixty  versts  without  stopping,  and  they 
were  bound  to  do  it  in  six  hours.  This  is  the  usual  way  of  quitting 
Petersburg ;  but  we  afterwards  found  it  advisable  to  have  recoiu-se 
to  the  regular  system  of  post  horses.  The  manner  in  which  the 
post  is  conducted  is  as  follows ;  each  peasant  pays  seven  copeks 
a  year,  which  sum  is  collected  in  every  district,  and  is  more  than 
sufficient,  with  the  usual  rate  of  travelling,  to  defray  the  expence 
of  a  certain  number  of  horses.  Tliis  income  is  annually  sold  by 
auction  to  the  highest  responsible  bidder,  who  is  then  bound  to 
furnish,  at  the  common  post  rate,  a  specified  number  of  horses.  If 
a  traveller,  on  liis  arrival  at  the  post-house,  (the  master  of  which 
is  usually  a  government  officer,)  is  told,  on  presenting  his  pado- 
rashna,  that  there  are  no  horses  at  home,  he  demands  to  see  the 
day-book,  in  which  the  postmaster  is  obliged  to  enter  the  number 
of  horses  he  has  sent  out,  and  the  travellers'  names  who  have 
taken  them.  If  this  accomit  does  not  correspond  with  the  number 
of  horses  kept  at  that  post,  which  is  always  printed  in  the  appoint- 
ment sent  by  the  postmaster-general,  you  may  oblige  the  man  to 
furnish  you  with  peasants'  horses,  he  liimself  paying  the  additional 
expence.  This  information  w^e  had  from  Prince  Wiasemsky,  at 
Kostroma. 

"  Novogorod  is  the  first  great  town  you  come  to  on  leaving 
Petersburg  ;  its  ancient  fame  and  riches  are  well  known  ;  but  at 
present,  we  were  told,  for  we  were  prevented  seeing  it,  it  is 
desolate  and  ruinous.  The  fabulous  accounts  of  its  foundation 
carry  its  date  to  1710  years  before  Christ.     The  age  of  Ruric  is 


NOVOGOROD— VALDAI.  139 


860  years  after  Christ ;  this  was  the  first  establishment  of  the  chap. 
Russians  in  those  parts.  Ruric  reigned  in  Ladoga  ;  his  two  brothers,  ^s"^. 
Sineus  and  Truvor,  the  one  in  Belosero,  near  the  lake  of  that 
name,  the  other  in  Isborsk,  near  Pstow.  The  Russians,  a  northern 
tribe  of  Scandinavians,  were  gradually  incorporated  with  the  Slavi; 
and  Novogorod  submitted  voluntarily,  being  weary  of  internal  fac- 
tions. After  Ruric's  death,  A.D.  879,  Igor,  his  son,  held  Novogorod 
as  a  dependancy  rather  than  a  possession.  Oleg,  brother-in-law 
to  Ruric,  and  at  his  death  regent  of  Russia,  afterwards  emigrated 
to  Kreis,  when  Novogorod  revolted,  and  was  sometimes  free  and 
sometimes  dependant ;  it  never  was  conquered  by  the  Tartars. 
Its  government  at  length  became  pretty  nearly  assimilated  to  that 
of  the  other  Hanse  towns.  There  were  long  disputes  and  intrigues 
between  the  Poles,  Swedes,  and  Russians,  for  the  possession  of  the 
great  Novogorod,  which  at  last  fell  before  the  fortune  of  Ivan 
Vassilovitz  the  Fu-st,  although  defended  with  great  patriotism,  and 
inspired  by  the  genius  of  Martha  Polofski.  The  army  of  Novogo- 
rod then  consisted  of  30,000  knights,  besides  archers,  who  were 
defeated  with  the  death  of  their  general,  Martha's  adopted  son. 
After  a  short  siege  Novogorod  followed  the  fate  of  its  defenders  ; 
this  was  in  1478.  Its  great  bell,  which  is  now  seen  in  the  Krem- 
lin at  Moscow,  was  then  taken  away ;  it  assembled  the  people  to 
coimcil,  and  was  considered  as  the  palladium  of  their  liberty.  The 
ruin  of  the  city  was  completed  by  Ivan  the  Second,  1570,  in  revenge 
for  their  reiterated  rebellions. 

"  Here,  as  well  as  in  almost  every  town  between  Petersburg  and 
Moscow,  is  an  imperial  palace ;  it  is,  however,  only  a  small  wooden 
lodge  so  dignified,  where  the  emperors  sometimes  pass  the  nights  on 
their  journeys.  At  Brounitza  is  a  singular  hill,  with  a  Church  on 
the  summit,  which  Pallas  imagines  to  be  an  artificial  mound.  It  is 
of  a  perfectly  regular  form,  though  its  size,  being  at  least  three  times 
the  size  of  the  castle-hill  at  Oxford,  makes  its  being  entirely  the 
work  of  art  rather  improbable.  Valdai  is  a  large  towTi  seated  on  a 
ridge  of  stony  hills,  which  the  Russians,  who  have  never  seen  any 
thing  higher,  call  mountains,  and  which  are  the  ancient  boundary 

T    2 


140  SHOES  MADE  OF  LINDEN  BARK. 

CHAP,  between  Russia  and  Novogorod.  They  extend  in  a  wavy  dii'ection, 
1805.  and  gradually  diminishing  in  size,  to  the  neighbourhood  of  Moscow. 
Though  the  hills  themselves  are  trifling,  the  elevation  from  the 
sea  is  no  doubt  great,  as  from  this  province  and  the  neighbouring 
ones,  the  great  rivers  all  rise.  The  country  between  the  sources  of 
the  Oka,  Volga,  and  Dnieper,  is  very  abvmdant  in  hemp. 

"  Valdai  has  a  large  convent  in  the  middle  of  a  lake  founded 
by  the  famous  Nicon,  and  renowned  for  a  picture  of  the  virgin  Mary 
brouffht  hither  from  Mount  Athos,  whence  the  convent  bears  the 
name  of  Aphonsky,  the  Russians  pronouncing  the  9  (f).  Travellers 
are  always  beset  here  by  a  number  of  women  who  sell  Calashki,  a 
species  of  cake.  Great  part  of  this  neighbourhood  was  originally  peo- 
pled by  colonies  from  Poland,  and  the  inhabitants  are  much  poorer 
and  more  dirty  than  in  other  parts  of  Russia.  Their  dress,  how- 
ever, is  every  where  the  same,  consisting  of  a  kaftan, — the  feet  wrapt 
round  with  bandages  of  hempen  cloth,  and  defended  with  sandals 
of  a  kind  of  strong  matting,  made  of  the  lime-tree  bark.  Boots  are 
very  rarely  seen  except  on  the  starosta  (elder  of  the  village '.) 
This  practice  of  making  shoes  of  linden  bark  is  very  destructive  to 
the  trees,  as  a  man  will  wear  out  from  twenty  to  thii'ty  pairs  of 
sandals  in  a  year.  The  lime-trees  of  which  they  are  made  are 
very  valuable,  on  account  of  their  bark,  of  which  mats  are  also 
made,  and  form  a  very  considerable  article  of  exportation.  It  is 
scarce  in  the  western  provinces,  not  lovuig  the  hungry  sand ;  but  in 
the  eastern  it  is  very  plentiful,  and  flourishes  even  as  high  as  Arch- 
angel. I  have  seldom  seen  finer  trees  than  they  are  at  Petersburg 
in  the  summer  garden,  and  at  Stockholm  they  tlu-ive  even  better. 

"  We  observed  a  striking  difierence  between  the  peasants  of 
the  crown,  and  those  of  individuals  in  general;  the  former  are  almost 
all  in  comparatively  easy  circumstances  ;  their  abrock  or  rent  is 
fixed  at  five  rubles  a  year,  all  charges  included ;  and  as  they  are 
sure  that  it  will  never  be  raised  they  are  more  industrious. 

"  The  peasants   belonging   to  the  nobles  have  their  rent, 

'  On  this  subject  see  Sclierer,  Histoire  de  la  Commerce  de  la  Russie. 


ABROCK.  141 

regulated  by  their  means  of  getting  money  ;  the  average  payment  chap. 
throughout  the  empire  is  about  eight  or  ten  rubles  annually.  In  i^os. 
this  way  it  becomes,  not  a  rent  for  land,  but  a  downright  tax  on 
their  industry.  Every  male  peasant  is  obliged  by  law  to  labour 
three  days  in  each  week  for  his  proprietor,  and  this  law  takes  effect 
on  his  arriving  at  the  age  of  fifteen.  If  the  proprietor  chooses  to 
employ  him  the  other  days  he  may,  (as  for  example  in  a  manufac- 
tory) but  he  then  finds  him  in  food  and  clothing.  Mutual  advan- 
tage, however,  generally  relaxes  this  law ;  and  excepting  such  as 
are  selected  for  domestic  servants,  or  are  employed  in  manufac- 
tories, the  slave  pays  a  certain  rent  to  be  allowed  to  work  all 
the  week  on  his  own  account,  his  master  being  bound  to  furnish 
him  with  a  house  and  a  certain  portion  of  land.  The  allot- 
ment of  land  is  generally  settled  by  the  starosta,  and  by  a  meet- 
ing of  the  peasants  themselves.  In  the  same  manner,  when  a 
master  wants  an  increase  of  rent,  he  sends  to  the  starosta,  who 
convenes  the  peasants,  and  by  this  assembly  it  is  decided  what 
proportion  each  individual  must  pay.  If  a  slave  exercises  any 
trade  which  brings  him  in  more  money  than  agricultural  labour, 
he  pays  a  higher  rent ;  if  he  can  get  more  money  by  going  to 
Petersburg  or  any  other  great  town,  his  master  frequently  per- 
mits him  to  go,  but  his  rent  is  raised.  Even  the  most  minute 
earnings  are  subject  to  this  oppression;  the  men  employed  as 
drivers  at  the  post-houses  pay  a  rent  out  of  the  drink-money  they 
receive,  for  being  permitted  to  drive,  as  otherwise  their  master 
might  employ  them  in  less  profitable  labour.  The  aged  and 
infirm  are  provided  with  food,  and  raiment,  and  lodging,  at  the  ex- 
pense of  their  owner  ;  such  as  prefer  casual  charity  to  the  miserable 
pittance  they  receive  from  them,  are  frequently  furnished  with  pass- 
ports and  allowed  to  seek  their  fortunes,  but  they  somtimes  pay  a 
rent  even  for  this  permission  to  beg.  The  number  of  beggars 
in  Petersburg  is  very  small ;  when  one  is  found  he  is  unmediately 
sent  back  to  his  owner.  In  Moscow  and  other  towns  they  are 
numerous,  though  I  tliink  less  so  than  in  London ;  they  beg  with 
great  modesty  in  a  low  and  humble  tone  of  voice,  frequently  crossing 


142  SLAVES. 

CHAP,  themselves,  and  are  much  less  clamourous  and  importunate  than  a 
'""5.  London  beggar.  The  master  has  the  power  of  correcting  his 
slaves  by  blows  or  confinement ;  but  if  he  be  guilty  of  any  great 
cruelty  he  is  amenable  to  the  laws,  which  are,  we  are  told,  exe- 
cuted on  this  point  with  impartiality.  In  one  of  the  towers  of  the 
Khitai-gorod  at  Moscow,  there  was  a  Countess  *  *  *  confined 
for  many  years,  with  a  most  unrelenting  severity,  which  she  merited 
for  cruelty  to  her  slaves.  Instances  of  barbarity  are,  however,  by  no 
means  rare.  At  Kostroma,  the  sister  of  M.  Kotchetof  the  governor, 
gave  me  an  instance  of  a  nobleman  who  had  nailed,  if  I  understood 
her  right,  his  servant  to  a  cross ;  the  master  was  sent  to  a  monas- 
tery, and  the  business  hushed  up.  Domestic  servants  and  those 
employed  in  manufactories,  as  they  are  more  exposed  to  cruelty, 
so  they  sometimes  revenge  themselves  in  a  terrible  manner ;  the 
brother  of  a  lady  of  our  acquaintance,  who  had  a  great  distillery, 
disappeared  suddenly,  and  was  pretty  easily  guessed  to  have  been 
thrown  into  a  boiling  copper  by  his  slaves.  We  heard  another 
instance,  though  not  from  equally  good  authority,  of  a  lady,  now 
in  Moscow,  who  had  been  poisoned  three  several  times  by  her 
servants. 

"  No  slave  can  quit  his  village  or  his  master's  family  without 
a  passport ;  every  individual  arriving  in  a  town  or  village,  must 
produce  his  to  the  starosta ;  and  no  one  can  harbour  a  stranger 
without  one.  If  a  person  is  found  dead,  and  no  passport  is  about 
him,  his  body  is  sent  to  the  hospitals  for  dissection  ;  of  this  custom 
we  happened  to  be  witnesses  in  one  instance.  The  punishment  of 
runaways  is  imprisonment  and  hard  labour  in  the  government 
works  ;  and  a  master  may  send  to  the  public  work-house  any  peasant 
he  chooses.  The  prisons  at  Moscow  and  Kostroma  were  chiefly 
filled  with  such  rvuiaway  slaves,  who  were  for  the  most  part  in 
irons.  On  the  frontier  they  often  escape,  but  in  the  interior  this  is 
next  to  an  impossibility.  Yet,  during  the  summer,  desertions  are 
very  common,  and  they  sometimes  lurk  about  for  many  months, 
living  miserably  in  the  woods  ;  this  particidarly  happens  when 
there  is  a  new  levy  of  soldiers. 


STAROSTA.  145 


IV. 
1805. 


"  The  leWes  are  made  by  taking  one  from  every  certain  num-  chap. 
ber  of  peasants  at  the  same  time  all  over  the  empire ;  but  if  a 
master  is  displeased  with  his  slave,  he  may  send  him  for  a 
soldier  whenever  he  pleases,  taking  a  receipt  fi-om  government 
that  he  may  contribute  one  man  less  to  the  ensuing  levy.  He 
also  selects  the  recruits  he  sends  to  government,  with  this  restric- 
tion, that  they  are  young  men,  free  from  disease,  have  sound  teeth, 
and  are  five  feet  two  inches  high. 

"The  starosta,  of  whom  mention  has  been  so  frequently  made, 
is  an  officer  resembling  the  ancient  bailiff  of  an  English  village  ;  he 
is  generally  chosen,  as  we  were  informed,  by  the  peasants,  some- 
times annually,  and  sometimes  for  life.  He  is  answerable  for  the 
payment  of  the  rents  to  the  lord ;  decides  small  disputes  among  the 
peasants ;  gives  billets  for  quarters  to  soldiers,  or  to  government 
officers  on  a  journey,  and  performs  all  the  lesser  pubhc  duties  of  a 
similar  natiu*e.  Sometimes  the  proprietor  of  the  district  claims 
the  right  of  his  appointment.  A  slave  can  on  no  pretence  be  sold 
out  of  Russia,  nor  in  Russia  to  any  but  a  person  born  noble,  or,  if 
not  noble,  having  the  rank  of  lieutenant-colonel.  (This  rank  is  not 
confined  to  the  mihtary,  but  may  be  obtained  by  men  in  civil 
situations.  Professor  Pallas  had  the  rank  of  brigadier.)  The  law 
is,  however,  eluded,  as  '  roturiers'  frequently  purchase  slaves 
by  making  use  of  the  name  of  some  pri\dleged  person ;  and  all 
nobles  have  the  right  to  let  out  their  slaves  for  hu-e.  Such  is  the 
political  state  of  the  peasants  ;  Avith  regard  to  their  comfort  and 
means  of  supporting  existence,  I  do  not  think  they  are  deficient ; 
their  houses  are  in  tolerable  repair,  moderately  roomy,  and  well 
adapted  to  the  habits  of  the  people ;  they  have  the  air  of  being 
sufficiently  fed,  and  their  clothing  is  warm  and  substantial.  Fuel, 
food,  and  the  materials  for  building  are  veiy  cheap,  but  almost  all 
kmds  of  clothing  are  dear ;  for  a  common  peasant's  cloth  kaftan  we 
were  asked  tliirty  rubles ;  and  even  supposing  the  tradesman 
would  have  taken  less,  yet  twenty  is  more  than  twice  the  price  of 
an  English  peasant's  coat.  In  summer  they  generally  wear  nan- 
keen kaftans,  one  of  which  costs  thu-teen  rubles.     The  lahhas  (lin- 

7 


144  CLOTHING  OF  RUSSIAN  PEASANTS. 

CHAP,     den  bark  sandals)  cost  nothing.     They  wear  a  blue  nankeen  shirt. 


IV. 


18Q5.  trimmed  with  red,  wliich  costs  two  or  three  rubles ;  linen  drawers, 
and  hnen  or  hempen  rags  wrapped  round  their  feet  and  legs,  over 
which  the  richer  sort  draw  their  boots.  The  sheep-skin  schoube 
costs  eight  rubles,  but  lasts  a  long  time,  as  does  a  lamb-skin  cap, 
wliich  costs  three ;  the  common  red  cap  is  about  the  same  price. 
To  clothe  a  Russ  peasant  or  soldier  completely  is,  I  apprehend, 
three  times  as  chargeable  as  in  England ;  their  clothing,  however, 
is  strong,  and,  as  being  loose  and  wide,  lasts  longer.  A  Russ  is 
very  seldom  seen  quite  in  rags.  With  regard  to  the  idleness  of 
the  low  er  classes,  of  which  we  had  heard  great  complaints,  it  ap- 
pears that  where  they  have  an  interest  in  exertion,  they  by  no 
means  want  industry,  and  possess  the  same  desire  for  luxuries 
which  other  people  do.     The  great  proprietors  never  raise  their 

rents,  and  have  very  rich  and  prosperous  peasants.  *  * 

*  *  *  *  *  *  * 

*  *  *  »  *  rpj^g  crown  peasants^ 
also,  it  is  reasonable  to  suppose,  are  happy,  living  at  their  ease, 
paying  a  moderate  quit-rent,  and  choosing  their  own  starosta; 
they  are,  however,  more  exposed  to  vexation  and  oppression  from 
the  petty  officers  of  the  crown  '. 

"  The  time  when  the  levies  for  the  army  are  made  is  looked 
upon  by  the  peasants  with  great  terrour.  Baron  Bode  told  me 
that  they  generally  kept  the  levy  a  secret  as  long  as  possible,  till 
they  had  fixed  on  and  secured  a  proper  number  of  men ;  these 
men  are,  for  the  most  part,  kept  chamed  until  they  are  sworn  in ; 
the  forepart  of  then-  heads  is  then  shaved,  and  they  are  thus  easily 
distinguished  from  other  peasants ;  after  tliis,  desertion  is  very  rare 
and  very  difficult. 

"  The  distress  of  one  of  their  popular  dramas,  which  we 
afterwards  saw  acted  at  Yaroslav,  in  the  private  theatre  of  the 
governor.  Prince  Gallitzin,  consists  in  a  young  man  being  pressed 
as  a  soldier.     In  the  short  reign  of  Peter  the  Second,  who  it  is  well 

'  This  account  of  the  peasants  is  an  abrege  from  the  different  statements  we  heard  at  Mos- 
cow, chiefly  from  Prince  Theodore  Nicalaiovitz  Gallitzin. 


AGRICULTURE— TVER.  145 

known,  transferred  again  the  seat  of  government  to  Moscow,  no     chap. 

.  IV. 

man  was  forced  to  become  a  soldier ;    the  army  was  recruited  by      i^oa. 
vohuiteers,  and  slaves  were  permitted  to  vohmteer '. 

"  Of  the  agriculture  of  the  country  we,  of  course,  were  unable 
to  form  a  judgement ;  it  appears  from  Gmelin  that  in  this  part 
of  Russia  a  custom  prevails  of  cutting  the  corn  when  it  is 
green,  and  drying  it  afterwards  in  smoke.  Near  Valdai  is  found  in 
great  abundance  the  gorcUus  aquaticus,  a  worm  like  a  hair,  which 
is  said  to  eat  into  the  flesh  ^  In  the  hills  coal  is  found  resembling 
the  Scotch  ;  it  hghts  with  thfficulty,  but  emits  a  strong  heat ;  yet  it 
^nll  not  support  the  action  of  the  bellows,  and  is,  consequently, 
useless  in  a  forge.     There  are  also  salt  springs 

"  The  oak  and  ash-trees  abound  in  the  hills.  The  country 
people  apply  to  wounds  a  powder  of  the  dried  leaf  of  the  wild  gera- 
nium ;  they  make  great  use  of  other  wdld  vegetables,  boiling  the 
wild  angelica,  the  rumex  obtusa  (sorrel),  the  atriplex  hastata 
(orache)  which,  boiled  with  fish  or  meat,  supplies  the  place  of  sour 
crout ;  from  this  last  plant  they  make  a  kind  of  treacle.  Quas  is 
made  with  unleavened  bread  allowed  to  ferment  in  water  exposed 
to  a  gentle  heat. 

"  Vischnei  Volotchok  is  famous  for  the  canal  which  joins  the 
Mesta  and  Twertza,  and  by  this  means  the  Baltic  and  the  Caspian. 

"  Torshok  is  chiefly  remarkable  for  its  leather  manufactories. 
We  here  met  with  a  famous  receipt  for  the  cure  of  rheumatism, 
which  consists  of  an  oil  extracted  from  horse-radish,  which  is 
both  taken  internally  and  used  externally.  Tver  is  a  very  fine 
town  ;  the  old  town  was  burnt  down  in  the  time  of  Catherine  the 
Second  and  rebuilt  by  her  on  a  regular  plan.  This  part  of  Muscovy 
possesses  a  great  advantage  in  its  quarries  of  freestone,  which  is 
very  handsome  but  not  very  durable. 

"  At  the  post  after  we  left  Klin,  the  drivers  in  order  to  have  a 
good  bargain  by  carrying  us  all  the  way  to  Moscow,  drove  us, 
without  our  knowledge,  five  versts  beyond  the  post-house.     We 

•  See  Manstein.  '  Gmelin  Receuil  des  Voyages,  Vol.  V.  p.  73. 

VOL.  I.  V 


146  RUSSIAN'S  TREATMENT  OF  HIS  HORSE. 


CHAP,  obliged  them  to  return,  and  saw  a  singular  instance  of  the  authority 
1805.  of  the  postmaster  of  a  petty  village  receiving-house,  who,  though 
his  station  was  not  more  dignified  than  that  of  the  lowest  clerk  of 
the  post-office  in  England,  yet  ordered  these  two  fellows  to  be 
beaten  soundly  with  hazel  sticks  on  the  bare  back,  which  was 
immediately  done,  the  men  roaring  out  lustily.  He  then  took 
from  them  the  money  we  had  paid  them,  and  put  their  horses  in 
requisition  to  go  the  next  stage. 

U     0  *  *  *  *  *  *  * 

«**  *****        The 

carriers,  of  whom  we  daily  met  thousands,  each  with  his  '  sanky,' 
(small  sledge)  and  single  horse,  travel  many  hundred  versts  without 
even  allowing  their  horses  to  lie  down;  they  feed  them  very 
liberally  with  corn,  but  only  let  them  stand  for  about  an  hour 
every  night  in  one  of  the  serais.  A  small  horse  can  draw  the 
prodigious  weight  of  thirty  pood  along  a  sledge-road ;  for  carriage 
from  Petersburg  to  Moscow,  which  is  720  versts,  the  charge  is  from 
thirty-five  to  forty  copeks  the  pood. 


CHAPTER   V. 


MOSCOW. 

Aspect  of  the  country — Russian  cottages — Entrance  into  Moscow — Society — Greek 
funeral — History  of  Moscow — Kitai-gorod — Kremlin — Antiquities — Churches 
— Palaces — Foundling  hospital — Tlteatres — College  of  foreign  affairs — Prison 
— Inundation — Silk  manufactories — Beauty  of  the  women — Journey  to  Kos- 
troma— Palace  of  Count  Sheremetif- — Manners  of  the  Russian  gentry — Convent 
of  Bethany — Monks — Clergy —  Visit  to  Archbishop  Plato — His  conversation  and 
appearance — Homilies — Rostof —  Madame  Vassilchikof — Yaroslav —  Manufac- 
tures— Greek  ordination  service  — Wolf  hunt — Kostroma — Prison — Orphan- 
house —  Tartar  families — Return  to  Moscow. 

To  Mrs.  Heher. 

Moscotv,  Jan.  4,  1806. 

"  My  Dear  Mother, 

"  Our  journey  has  been  prosperous,  and  after  about  chap. 
ninety  hours'  continued  jolting,  we  arrived  safely  at  Moscow  abovit  igoe. 
eight  o'clock  last  night.  Mr.  Bayley '  came  with  us,  and  we  have 
found  his  knowledge  of  the  Russian  language  and  manners  of  great 
service  to  us  on  the  road.  Om-  method  of  travelling  deserves  de- 
scribing, both  as  very  comfortable  in  itself,  and  as  being  entirely 
different  from  every  thing  in  England,  We  performed  the  journey 
in  kibitkas,  the  carriages  usually  employed  by  the  Russians  in  their 
wmter  journeys  ;  they  are  nothing  more  than  a  very  large  cradle, 
well  covered  with  leather,  and  placed  on  a  sledge,  with  a  leather 
curtain  in  front ;  the  luggage  is  packed  at  the  bottom,  the  port- 
manteaus serving  for  an  occasional  seat,  and  the  whole  covered 

*  Sir  Daniel  Bayley,  now,  1830,  consul-general  of  England  in  St.  Petersburg.— Ed. 

V  2 


148  ASPECT  OF  THE  COUNTRY. 


CHAP,  with  a  mattrass,  on  which  one  or  more  persons  can  he  at  full 
1806.  length,  or  sit  supported  by  pillows.  In  tliis  attitude,  and  well 
WTapped  up  in  furs,  one  can  scarcely  conceive  a  more  luxurious 
mode  of  getting  over  a  country,  when  the  roads  are  good,  and  the 
weather  not  mtense ;  but  in  twenty-four  or  twenty-five  degrees  of 
frost,  Reaumur,  no  wrapping  can  keep  you  quite  warm;  and  in  bad 
roads,  of  which  we  have  had  some  little  experience,  the  joltuig  is 
only  equalled  by  the  motion  of  a  ship  in  a  storm. 

"  In  the  weather  we  were  very  fortunate,  having  a  fine  clear 
frost,  about  as  mild  as  an  Enghsli  Christmas.  Our  first  forty 
hours  were  spent  in  traversing  an  unfertile  and  unlovely  country, 
the  most  flat  and  unmteresting  I  ever  saw,  with  nothing  but  occa- 
sional patches  of  cultivation,  and  formal  fir  woods,  without  a  single 
feature  of  art  or  nature  which  could  attract  attention.  Once,  in- 
deed, from  a  little  elevation,  we  saw  the  sun  set  to  great  advan- 
tage ;  it  was  singular  to  see  it  slowly  sinking  beneath  the  black 
and  perfectly  level  horizon  of  the  sea  of  land  which  surrounded  us. 
The  night  which  followed  was  distinguished  by  more  jolting  than 
usual ;  and  about  sun-rise  Thornton  di'ew  the  curtain,  and  cried  out 
'  England.'  I  started  up  and  found  we  were  on  the  summit  of  a 
low  range  of  stony  hills,  with  an  enclosed  and  popidous  country 
before  us,  and  a  large  town,  Valdai,  which,  with  its  neighbourhood, 
had  some  little  resemblance  to  Oxford,  as  seen  from  the  Banbury 
road.  Tliis  is,  in  fact,  the  bomidary  of  Ancient  Russia ;  all  beyond 
were  the  territories  of  Novogorod,  Istria,  and  the  other  countries 
they  have  conquered. 

"  The  whole  plain  fi'om  Valdai  to  Moscow  is  very  level,  entirely 
arable,  generally  common  fields  with  some  shabby  enclosures,  thickly 
set  with  villages  and  small  coppices,  in  which  the  firs  begin  to  be 
relieved  by  birch,  lime,  ash  and  elm.  Tver  and  Torshok  are  large 
towns,  but  have  nothing  in  them  to  detain  a  traveller.  During  this 
journey  I  was  struck  by  observing  the  very  little  depth  of  snow  on 
the  ground,  which  was  not  more,  or  so  much,  as  we  often  see  in 
England,  and  no  where  prevented  my  distinguishing  the  meadows 
from  the  stubble-fields.     Mr.  Bayley  said  he  had  often  made  the 


RUSSIAN  COTTAGES.  I49 

same  observation,  and  that  it  was  not  peculiar  to  the  present  year.  chap. 
We  had  our  guns  with  us  ;  and  often  left  the  kibitka  in  pursuit  of  '8o« 
the  large  black  grouse,  of  which  we  saw  several, — a  noble  bird  as 
large  as  a  turkey.  They  were,  however,  so  wild  we  could  not  get 
a  fair  shot.  We  had  some  hopes  of  killing  a  wolf,  as  one  or  two 
passed  the  road  during  the  first  part  of  our  journey  ;  but  it  was 
during  the  night,  and  before  we  were  fairly  roused  and  could  get 
our  guns  ready,  they  were  safe  in  the  wood.  In  severe  winters 
they  are  sometimes  easily  shot,  as  they  keep  close  to  the  road  side ; 
and  when  very  much  famished  will  even  attack  the  horses  in  a 
carriage  ;  they  are  not  considered  dangerous  to  men  except  in  self- 
defence.  Of  the  people  we,  of  course,  saw  but  little;  though 
having  so  good  an  interpreter  with  us,  we  asked  many  questions 
and  went  into  several  of  the  cottages,  which  we  found  much 
cleaner  than  we  expected,  but  so  hot  that  we  could  not  endure  to 
remain  in  them  long.  A  Russian  cottage  is  always  built  of  logs 
cemented  with  clay  and  moss,  and  is  generally  larger  than  an  English 
one ;  it  has  two  stories,  one  of  which  is  half  sunk  and  serves  as  a 
storehouse;  two-thirds  of  the  upper  stoi-y  are  taken  up  with  the 
principal  room,  where  they  sit  and  sleep;  and  the  remainder  is 
divided  between  a  closet  where  they  cook  their  victuals,  and  an 
immense  stove,  not  unlike  an  oven,  which  heats  the  whole  building, 
and  the  top  of  which,  for  the  chimney  is  only  a  small  flue  on  the 
side,  serves  as  a  favourite  sitting  and  sleeping-place,  though  we 
could  scai'cely  bear  to  lay  our  hands  on  it.  In  the  corner  of  the 
great  room  always  stands  the  bed  of  the  master  and  mistress  of  the 
family,  generally  very  neat  and  with  curtains,  sometimes  of  English 
cotton ;  the  other  branches  of  the  family  sleep  on  the  stove  or 
floor.  In  the  post-houses,  which  differ  in  no  respect  from  this 
description,  we  always  found  good  coffee,  tea  and  cream  ;  nothing 
else  can  be  expected,  and  we  carried  our  other  provisions  with  us. 
"  The  country  people  are  all  alike,  dirty,  good-humoured 
fellows,  in  sheep-skin  gowns,  with  the  wool  inwards.  The  drivers 
crossed  themselves  devoutly  before  beginning  each  stage,  and  sung 
the  whole  way  or  else  talked  to  their  horses.     A  Russian  seldom 


150  ENTRANCE  INTO  MOSCOW. 

CHAP,  beats  his  horse,  but  argues  with  him  at  first,  and  at  last  goes  no 
^'"'^-  further  than  to  abuse  him,  and  call  him  wolf  or  Jew,  which  last 
is  the  lowest  pitch  of  their  contemptuous  expressions.  Their 
horses  are  much  larger  and  better  fed  than  the  Swedish,  and  when 
talked  to  secundum  artem  trot  very  fast.  Nothing  on  our  journey 
surprised  us  so  much  as  the  crowds  of  single-horse  sledges,  carry- 
ing provisions  to  Petersburg  :  it  would  not  be  exaggerating  to  say 
that  we  passed  in  twenty-four  hours  about  a  thousand.  Every 
article  of  necessary  consumption  must,  indeed,  be  brought  from  a 
distance,  as  the  neighbourhood  of  Petersburg  produces  nothing  to 
'  make  trade,'  very  little  to  '  make  eat.'  When  I  have  seen  the 
fine  fertile  country  abounding  in  every  thing  good  and  desirable, 
which  Peter  deserted  for  the  bogs  and  inclement  latitude  of  the 
Neva,  I  wonder  more  and  more  at  the  boldness  and  success  of  his 
project.  It  is  as  if  the  king  of  England  should  move  his  capital 
fi'om  London  to  BamfT,  and  make  a  Windsor  of  Johnny  Groat's 
house. 

"  We  reached  this  vast  over-grown  village,  for  I  can  compare  it 
to  nothmg  else,  in  the  moonUght,  and  consequently  saw  it  to  great 
advantage ;  though,  as  we  passed  along  its  broad  irregular  streets, 
we  covdd  not  but  observe  the  strange  mixture  of  cottages,  gardens, 
stables,  barracks,  Chiu-ches,  and  palaces.     This  morning  we  have 
been  much  dehghted  with  a  more  accurate  survey.     Moscow  is  situ- 
ated in  a  fine  plam,  with  the  river  Moskva  winchng  through  it ;  the 
town  is  a  vast  oval,  covering  about  as  much  ground  as  London  and 
Westminster.     The  original  city  is  much  smaller ;  it  forms  one  quar- 
ter of  the  town,  under  the  name  of  Kitai-gorod,  the  city  of  Kathay ;  it 
has  preserved  this  name  from  the  time  of  the  conquest  of  Russia  by 
the  Tartars,  when  they  seized  on  the  city,  and  made  the  Russians 
quit  their  houses,   and  build  without  its  walls  what  is  now  called, 
Biel-gorod,   or  White  Town.     Kitai-gorod  is  still  surrounded  by 
its  old  Tartar-wall,  vA\\\  high  brick  towers  of  a  most  singular  con- 
struction ;  the  gates  are  ornamented  in  the  same  oriental  style,  and 
several  of  the  older  Churches  have  been  originally  mosques.     But 
it  is  in  the  Kremlin,  or  palace  quarter,  that  the  principal  vestiges  of 


KREMLIN.  151 


the  Khans  are  displayed ;  their  palace  still  exists  entire,  and  is  a  chap. 
most  curious  and  interesting  piece  of  antiquity.  As  I  walked  up  isnu. 
its  high  staircase,  and  looked  romid  on  the  terraces  and  towers, 
and  the  crescents  which  yet  remain  on  their  gilded  spires,  I  could 
have  fancied  myself  the  hero  of  an  eastern  tale,  and  expected,  \\ith 
some  impatience,  to  see  the  talking-bii'd,  the  singing-water,  or  the 
black  slave  y^ith  liis  golden  club.  In  this  building,  which  is  no^v 
called  the  treasury,  are  preserved  the  crowns  of  Kasan,  Astrachan 
and  Siberia,  and  of  some  other  petty  Asiatic  kingdoms.  The 
present  imperial  apartments  are  small  and  mean,  and  are  separated 
fi-om  the  Tartar  palace  by  a  httle  court.  The  first  entrance  to  the 
Kremlin,  after  passuig  the  great  Saracenic  gate,  is  excessively 
strikmg,  and  the  view  of  the  toAMi  and  river  would  form  a  noble 
panorama.  I  was  mdeed  so  well  satisfied  mth  what  I  saw  from 
the  coml-yard,  wliich  is  very  elevated,  that  I  was  not  a  httle  un- 
filing to  do  what  is  expected  from  all  strangers, — to  clamber  up  the 
tower  of  St.  Michael  to  see  a  fine  prospect  turned  into  a  map.  The 
tower  stands  in  the  middle  of  the  comt ;  half-way  up  is  the  gallery 
whence  the  ancient  monarchs  of  Russia,  down  to  the  time  of  Peter 
the  Great,  used  to  harangue  the  assemblies  of  the  people.  Before 
it  is  a  deep  pit  containmg  the  remains  of  the  famous  bell  cast  by 
the  empress  Anne,  and  about  three  times  the  size  of  the  great  bell  at 
Clu-ist  Church.  It  was  originally  suspended  on  aframe  of  wood,  which 
was  accidentally  burnt  down,  and  the  weight  of  the  bell  forced  it,  like 
the  helmet  of  Otranto,  through  the  pavement  into  a  cellar.  On 
each  side  of  the  Michael  tower  is  a  Christianized  mosque,  of  most 
strange  and  barbarous  architecture ;  in  one  of  them  the  sovereigns 
of  Russia  are  crowned,  and  in  the  other  they  are  buried.  The 
rest  of  the  Kremlin  is  taken  up  by  public  offices,  barracks,  the 
archiepiscopal  palace,  and  two  or  tliree  convents.  An  immense 
ditch,  with  a  Tartar  wall,  surrounds  it,  and  it  is  approached  by  two 
gates,  the  principal  of  which  a  Russian  never  passes  with  his 
hat  on. 

a       *  «  «  «  *  «  -Hr  * 


152  SOCIETY. 

CHAP.     *         *  *     The  houses,  with  the  exception  of  some  vast  pa- 

1806-  laces  belonging  to  the  nobility,  are  meanness  itself.  The  shops 
are  truly  Asiatic,  dark,  small,  and  huddled  together  in  long-vaulted 
bazars,  and  the  streets  ill  paved  and  lighted. 

"  January  lOth. — Of  the  society  we  have  seen  too  little  to  form 
any  judgement.  We  have  called  on  the  governor,  and  some  other 
persons  to  whom  we  had  letters  of  introduction,  and  have  been  civilly 
received.  We  have  also  been  at  two  private  concerts,  at  one  of 
which  we  met  Madame  Mara,  who  is  now  here  with  Signor  Florio, 
and  who  sung  but  very  carelessly.  Concerts  are  fashionable  in 
Moscow;  and  cards,  as  may  be  expected  in  a  society  which,  though 
they  will  not  allow  it,  is  certainly  at  present  provincial,  are  much 
more  common  than  at  Petersburg.  The  society  consists  in  a  great 
measure,  we  are  told,  of  families  of  the  old  nobility  and  superan- 
nuated courtiers,  who  live  in  prodigious  state,  and,  from  what  we 
have  seen,  great  and  almost  cumbersome  hospitality.  Some  of 
their  daughters  seem  tolerably  accomplished,  and  very  good-natured 
unaffected  girls ;  we  have  seen  nothing  remarkably  beautiful, 
though  the  bloom  and  fresh  complexions  of  Moscow  are  often 
envied  by  the  Petersburg  belles.  We  promise  ourselves  a  great 
deal  of  amusement  and  instruction  from  the  number  of  old  officers 
and  ministers  who  have  figured  in  the  revolution,  and  the  busy 
scenes  of  Catherine's  time.  This  being  Christmas-day,  according 
to  the  Russian  calendar,  we  are  going  to  a  grand  gala  dinner  of 
the  governor's  ;  it  is  necessary  for  us  to  go  in  full  uniform,  which, 
indeed,  we  must  frequently  do,  as  *  the  old  courtiers  of  the  queen 
and  the  queen's  old  courtiers,'  are  much  more  attentive  to  such 
distinctions  than  the  circle  we  have  left  in  Petersburg.  The 
English  nation  is  said  to  be  in  high  favour  here,  and  we  were  much 
gratified  by  the  cordial  manner  in  which  many  persons  expressed 
themselves  tow^ards  us.  We  have  been  rather  fortunate  in  seeing 
a  splendid  Greek  funeral,  attended  by  a  tribe  of  priests,  deacons, 
and  archimandrites,  under  the  command  of  one  archbishop  and 
two  subalterns.     The  archbishop  was  a  Circassian,  and  one  of  the 


HISTORY  OF  lArOSCOW.  153 

bishops  a  Georgian.  The  '  divine  Plato'  is  not  now  in  Moscow,  chap 
I  am  eagerly  expecting  letters  from  you,  which,  with  some  regard  laoa. 
to  the  news  from  Germany,  must  decide  our  futxu'e  tour. 

"  Believe  me,  dear  Mother, 

"  Yours  affectionately, 

"  Reginald  Heber." 

MOSCOW. 

"  This  great  city  was  originally  built,  according  to  some  of 
the  older  chronicles,  by  Oleg,  brother-m-law  to  Ruric,  in  the  year 
of  our  Lord  882.  According  to  others,  George  Vladimirovitz,  sur- 
named  the  '  long-handed,'  struck  with  the  beauty  of  the  situation 
and  of  the  heiress  who  was  to  inherit  it,  married  his  son  Anchei  to 
Vlita,  daughter  of  Stepan  Ivanovitz  Kutchko,  lord  of  the  district. 
The  Kitai-gorod  took  its  name  from  a  nickname  of  this  prince.  At 
any  rate,  it  appears  that  Moscow  was  rebuilt  by  George,  son  of 
VlatUmir,  circa  1155. 

"  Baty  Khan,  chief  of  the  Moguls  of  the  Golden  Horde,  and 
nephew  of  the  famous  Zingis,  seized  it,  and  destroyed  or  carried 
away  most  of  the  inhabitants.  This  was  probably  the  time  when 
the  Kremlin  (a  Tartar  word,  signifying  fortress)  and  the  Kitai- 
gorod  (Cathayan  town)  took  their  names.  The  Biel-gorod  (White 
town)  was  the  residence  of  those  Russians  who  w^ei-e  allowed 
to  remain ;  but,  as  the  same  hordes  also  treated  the  Chinese, 
they  were  obliged  to  build  their  houses  without  the  wall.  The 
Emperor  of  Russia  is  now  called  by  the  Tartars  the  White 
Khan ;  and  the  name  appears  natural,  as  the  Tartars  are  much 
more  swarthy  than  the  Russians.  The  general  derivation  of 
these  names  is,  that  the  white  town  was  surrounded  by  a  white 
wall,  and  that  Chinese  goods  (for  every  thing  beyond  the  Oby  is 
Kitai)  were  sold  in  the  Kitai-gorod.  Moscow  was  reconquered 
A.D.  1296,  by  Daniel  Alexandiovitz. 

"  In  the  year  1300  or  1328,  it  became  the  capital  of  Muscovy, 
but  tributary  to  the  Tartars ;  it  was  again  entirely  subdued  by  the 

VOL.  I.  X 


154  HISTORY  OF  MOSCOW. 

CHAP.  Golden  Horde,  vinder  Mamai  Khan,  in  1380,  and  at  length  de- 
1805-  livered  by  Ivan  the  First ;  but  though  released  from  subjection  to 
the  Golden  Horde,  it  was  still  tributary  to  the  Khans  of  Kapshak, 
Krim,  and  Perekop,  till  the  time  of  Ivan  the  Second :  in  the 
year  1521,  it  was  very  nearly  taken  by  Mahomet  Gerci,  and  his 
brother  Sap  Gerci,  who  defeated  the  Russians,  and  were  only 
prevented  from  reducing  it  to  ruin  by  the  bravery  of  a  single 
Gernian  soldier,  Nicholas  Von  Speier.  In  Ivan  the  Second's  reign 
it  was  burnt  by  the  Krim  Tartars,  A.D.  1571 ;  the  number  of  its 
inhabitants  was  then  about  30,000  '.  In  the  time  of  Olearius,  1623, 
the  town  consisted  of  40,000  houses,  and  2000  Churches,  Chapels, 
and  monasteries.  Alexis  Michailovitz,  father  of  Peter  the  Great, 
was  the  man  who  finally  delivered  Moscow  from  the  annual  attacks 
and  fear  of  the  Krim  Tartars. 

"  The  circuit  of  Moscow  we  have  heard  variously  stated ;  it 
may  perhaps  be  about  thirty-six  versts,  (twenty-six  miles) ;  but  this 
includes  many  void  spaces.  The  population  is,  as  usual,  exagger- 
rated.  It  is  decidedly  greater  than  that  of  Petersburg ;  I  should 
think  three  or  four  times  as  much,  judging  fi-om  the  concourse  in 
the  streets.  The  extent,  in  comparison  with  that  of  Petersburg, 
is  nearly,  as  may  be  seen  by  the  plan,  twelve  to  one  ;  and  yet, 
fi'om  the  master  of  the  police,  of  all  men  the  most  likely  to  know, 
the  population  was  estimated  at  only  250,000  fixed  inhabitants. 
The  servants  and  numerous  retainers  of  the  nobles  may  be  perhaps 
estimated  at  nearly  30,000,  who  are  here  only  in  winter.  The  form 
of  the  Biel-gorod  is  nearly  a  circle,  and  it  is  now  surrounded,  on  the 
site  of  the  ancient  rampart,  with  a  walk  planted  with  limes.  This 
was  an  improvement  of  Paul's,  and  will,  when  the  trees  are  grown, 
be  a  great  ornament,  as  the  space  on  each  side  forms  a  street,  in 
some  places,  perhaps,  three  times  as  wide  as  Portland-place,  and 
with  many  fine  houses.  The  width  of  the  London  streets  is,  indeed, 
greatly  diminished  in  our  estimation  by  a  view  of  some  of  those  in 
Moscow  or  Petersburg ;  at  the  latter  place,  the  exercise-house  of  the 

'  See  Possevin.     Also  "  A  Letter  of  Richard  Uscombe,  touching  the  burning  of  Moscow 
by  tlie  Krim  Tartars." 


MOSCOW.  155 

Micliaclovsky  palace  is  seven  feet  wider  than  Portland-place,  and  chap. 
without  a  single  pillar.  The  other  streets  of  Moscow  are  not  wide,  's^^- 
and  are  very  irregular  ;  the  houses  are  now  mostly  built  of  brick, 
wood  being  forbidden  in  any  new  erection,  though  the  law  is  often 
evaded,  and  perhaps  one-half  of  the  town  is  still  of  wood.  Within 
the  Biel-gorod,  which  is  all  that  can  be  fairly  called  the  town,  the 
houses  are  almost  all  contiguous,  and  the  population  certainly  great; 
though  even  here  many  of  the  principal  residences  have  gardens, 
coach-houses,  and  yards,  which  take  up  much  room.  The  archi- 
tecture of  Moscow  is,  as  may  be  supposed,  very  various,  and  gene- 
rally most  extravagantly  barbarous. 

"  On  the  whole,  however,  the  broad  and  winding  streets,  the 
irregularity  of  the  ground,  the  variety  of  form  and  plan  in  the 
buildings,  some  of  which  are  really  most  magnificent ;  the  beautiful 
windings  of  the  Mosqua  river,  and  the  singular  forms  of  the 
Churches  and  steeples,  make  Moscow  a  noble  and  most  interesting 
town ;  and  there  is,  perhaps,  no  place  in  Europe  more  likely  to 
detain  a  traveller. 

"  The  principal  buildings  are,  1st.  the  Kremlin,  with  its  vast 
cluster  of  fine  edifices ;  2d.  the  famous  Church  of  which  the  arclii- 
tect  lost  his  eyes  by  order  of  Ivan  the  lid. ;  3d.  the  assembly-room 
of  the  nobles'  club  ;  4th.  the  foundling-hospital ;  5th.  the  imperial 
palace  in  the  Slobode ;  6th.  the  hospital  of  Prince  Gallitzin ; 
7th.  the  theatre,  now  burnt ;  8th.  M.  Paschkof's  house ;  9th. 
the  university;  10th.  the  college  for  foreign  affairs;  11th.  the 
admiralty  ;  12th.  Menzikof's  steeple. 

"  On  entering  the  city  from  Petersburg,  our  route  lay  to  the 
right  along  the  boulevarde,  which  in  one  part  descends  into  a  pretty 
deep  valley  which  winds  through  the  town,  with  a  string  of  pools 
in  the  bottom,  where  are  ice-hills  every  \\dnter.  The  hill  opposite 
is  covered  with  buildings  of  the  most  singular  form,  with  the 
steeples  of  Menzikoff"s  Church,  a  high  building  like  a  pagoda,  on 
the  right  hand,  and  on  the  left  at  some  cUstance  the  admiralty,  a 
building  of  a  still  more  singvdar  appearance,  of  immense  height, 
raised  over  the  gate  which  leads  to  Troitza.     If  you  pursue  the 

x2 


156  KITAI-GOROD. 

CHAP,  boulevarde  as  far  as  the  Prokovka,  you  find  to  the  right  a  long 
'ao5-  and  straight  street,  which  condvicts  you  through  the  gate  of  the 
Kitai-gorod  ;  here  to  the  left  hand  you  have  a  magnificent  view 
of  the  Tartar  and  Yoaouse  Slobodi ;  over  the  roof  of  the  foundling 
hospital  in  the  foreground  is  the  tower  where  the  cruel  Countess  *  *  * 
was  confined — a  most  dismal  habitation.  The  walls  of  the  Kitai- 
gorod  are  of  brick,  of  great  thickness,  furnished  with  polygonal 
and  square  towers,  diminishing  in  stories  hke  those  in  the  great 
wall  of  China.  These  are  all  of  brick,  with  narrow  loop-holes 
and  semicircular  arches,  and  are  all  machicolated ;  without  is 
a  very  deep  and  wide  ditch.  In  some  parts,  particularly  on  the 
countess'  tower,  are  some  young  mountain-ash,  which  grow  out  of 
the  rubbish  on  the  top  of  the  building,  and  have  a  very  pic- 
turesque effect.  The  tops  of  all  the  towers  are  formed  into  high 
octagonal,  or  more  commonly  square,  spires. 

"  The  streets  within  the  Kitai-gorod  are  close,  narrow,  and 
winding;  there  are  few  good  dwelling-houses,  the  space  being  chiefly 
taken  up  with  shops,  Churches  and  convents.  One  building,  now 
a  warehouse  belonging  to  government,  still  shows  the  lion  and 
unicorn  on  its  gate,  which  points  it  out  as  the  ancient  house  of  the 
English  ambassadors.  The  space  of  the  arms  is  occupied  by  a 
Slavonic,  or  ancient  Russ  inscription,  for  I  could  never  learn  it 
accurately,  which  declares  the  Enghsh  to  be  regicides,  heathens, 
and  expelled  the  Russian  empire.  This  was  done  at  the  time  of 
Charles  the  First's  death.  Another  ruinous  building  was  the 
object  of  popular  fear  and  detestation  during  the  reigns  of  the 
four  last  sovereigns  of  Russia.  It  was  a  state  prison,  which 
from  the  secrecy  with  which  persons  were  sent  there  and  the 
dreadful  probability  of  their  never  re-appearing,  was  called  the 
'  Kremlin  expedition.'  It  is  now  empty  and  the  doors  are  open. 
The  shops  are  all  under  arches  in  the  eastern  style,  and  the  whole 
place  is  crowded  and  busy  as  a  hive  of  bees. 

"  We  now  approach  the  holy  gate  of  the  Kremlin,  which  is 
separated  from  the  city  by  a  vast  ditch  and  mound,  crowned  with 
a  high  brick  rampart,  which  is  garnished  with  very  tall  towers  of  a 


KREMLIN.  157 

circular  form,  diminishing  like  pagodas,  and  surmounted  with  high     f'HA'' 
spires.     The  breast-works  of  the  wall  are  in  a  very  singular  style,      ^""^- 
and  seem  to  be  intended  as  an  imitation  of  palisadoes.     The  whole 
has  a  perfectly  eastern  air.     The  holy  gate  is  painted  red,  and  most 
of  the  towers  have  green  spires  ;  beyond  the  whole  building  is  a 
cluster  of  turrets,  spires,  and  domes.     The  famous  Church  of  St. 
Basil,  built  by  Solarius,  an  Italian  architect,  for  Ivan  the  Second, 
who  put  out  the  artist's  eyes  in  consequence  of  a  foolish  boast  , 
is  on  the  left  hand ;  a  strange  building  of  painted  brick,  clustered 
with  seven  spires  rising  like  a  crown  one  above  another.     On  the 
right  hand  is  the  great  market ;  a  fine  range  of  shops  under  regular 
arcades  and  well  disposed.     You  enter  the  holy  gate  by  a  long 
narrow  bridge  over  the  fosse ;  on  the  left  hand  is  a  noble  view 
down  to  the  river.     The  whole  coup  d'ceil  much  resembled  Serin- 
gapatam,   as  represented  in  Kerr  Porter's  panorama.     In  passing 
under  the  holy  gate  all  hats  are  taken  oif  in  reverence  for  a  saint 
suspended  over  it,  who  delivered  the  citadel,  as  tradition  affirms,  by  ' 
striking  a  sudden  panic  into  an  army  of  Poles,  which  had  possession 
of  the  town,  and  had  almost  succeeded  in  forcing  this  gate  of  the 
Kremlin  ^    Within  the  wall  is  a  magnificent  area  on  the  summit  of 
the  hill,  whence  is  one  of  the  finest  views  I  ever  saw,  of  the  town, 
the  river,  the  bridges,  and  of  the  surrounding  country,  which  is 
really  very  beautiful,  particularly  a  wooded  range  of  hills  called  the 
Sparrow  hills.     On  the  right  hand,  in  the  Kremlin,  is  the  palace  of 
the   archbishop,    beyond   it   the  senate-house   and  several  other 
public  buildings ;  on  the  left,  on  the  very  brow  of  the  hill,  is  a 
shed  covering  some  ancient  pieces  of  eastern  cannon,   and  the 
famous  bell  which  once  summoned  the  freemen  of  Novogorod  the 
Great,     Directly  in  front  is  the  tower  of  St.  John,  and  behind  it, 
the  imperial  palace  with  its  high  stone  staircase  and  terrace,  and  on 
each  side  the  churches  of  the  Assumption  and  St.  Michael ;  the  one 
where  the  emperors  are  crowned,  the  other  where  they  are  buried. 
Behind  this  again,  and  on  the  very  termination  of  the  triangular 

'  Solarius  boasted  that  lie  had  often  seen  finer  edifices  in  Italy. — Ed. 
■  Vide  CruU's  account  of  Muscovy,  vol.  i.  p.  3.'31.  Lond.  1698. 


158  ANTIQUITIES. 

CHAP,  hill,  is  the  ancient  palace  of  the  czars,  now  the  treasury.  The  whole 
'""^-  together  forms  a  wonderful  gi'oup,  of  which  the  Muscovites  have 
reason  to  boast. 

"  On  advancing  to  the  imperial  apartments  you  mount  a  stone 
stair,  adorned  with  carved  lions,  to  a  high  terrace,  which  runs 
round  the  building,  commanding  the  whole  town  ;  after  turning  to 
the  right  hand  into  a  kind  of  hall  ornamented  with  some  very 
ancient  Greek  frescos,  you  pass,  again  to  the  right,  into  the  great 
hall  of  audience,  which  we  were  prevented  from  seeing.  To  the 
left  you  enter  a  small  irregular  court,  having  on  one  side  the  old 
palace,  where  are  to  be  remarked  the  balcony,  whence  Nariskhin 
was  thrown  out  by  Sophia's  orders  on  the  pikes  of  the  strelitzes  \ 
the  window  whence  Alexy  Michaelovitz  received  petitions,  and 
the  little  turret  from  whence  the  czars  used  to  view  the  city. 

"Among  the  antiquities  preserved  in  this  building,  of  which 
the  interior  apartments  are  small,  low,  and  vaulted,  are  chiefly  to 
be  noticed  the  throne  constructed  for  the  princes  Ivan  and  Peter, 
with  a  recess  behind  where  their  sister  Sophia  sat  to  dictate  to 
them  their  answers  to  all  ambassadors  and  public  business ;  the 
crown  brought  from  Kiof,  with  an  inscription,  and  some  others  sent 
by  Persian  sultans  ;  some  ancient  Russ  and  Tartar  pieces  of  armour, 
very  similar  to  each  other  in  form,  and  chiefly  consisting  of  chain 
work,  with  a  conical  helmet,  and  some  very  costly  robes  of  the 
ancient  patriarchs.  There  is  a  great  quantity  of  old  plate  which 
was  anciently,  as  we  learnt  from  Count  Moussin  Pouschkin,  used 
as  a  means  of  rewarding  eminent  services ;  a  cup  with  a  cover 
and  the  spread-eagle  engraved  on  it,  was  given  to  the  person  of 
highest  rank, — one  without  these  adchtions  came  next ;  a  gold  coin 
with  a  hole  di-illed  through  it,  rewarded  military  services  ;  and  one 
of  a  similar  shape,  but  without  the  hole,  was  given  as  a  less  brilliant 
distinction.  Civil  rank  was  pointed  out  by  a  silver  inkhorn  hung 
on  the  left-side.  The  ancient  coins  are  not  struck,  but  punched 
out  on  the  reverse,  so  as  to  stand  prominent,  and  two  pieces  are 
often  joined  together  so  as  to  have  the  appearance  of  another  coin. 

'  The  word  '  strelitz'  means  an  archer. 


CHURCHES. 


159 


Count  Pouschkin  showed  us  one  of  Sophia,  with  her  two  brothers  on    chap. 
the  reverse,  made  in  this  manner,  and  presented  by  her  to  her      'so^- 
favourite  Laponkin. 

"  The  bows  anciently  carried  by  the  StreUtzes  were  changed 
to  matchlocks  by  Ivan  the  Second,  and  to  musquets  by  Alexis.  In 
his  time  they  were  chiefly  commanded  by  German  and  Scotch 
officers,  some  of  whom,  according  to  Olearius,  were  much  perse- 
cuted on  account  of  their  religion. 

"  The  Churches  of  the  Assumption  and  St.  Michael,  and  the 
greater  part  of  the  Kremhn,  were  also  built  by  Solarius  the  Milanese 
architect.  In  the  Church  of  the  Assumption  are  many  of  the  czars 
buried,  all  in  jilain  stone  coffins  covered  with  tapestry,  Vladimir's 
tomb  is  honoured  with  the  kisses  of  the  people.  St.  Michael's 
Church  is,  within,  almost  entirely  encrusted  with  silver  plates,  and 
surrounded  by  coffins  of  the  patriarchs,  similar  to  those  of  the 
emperors.  Both  are  prodigiously  lofty  and  very  dark  ;  their  outsides 
are  covered  with  gilding  and  immense  pictures  of  saints,  in  fresco. 
The  style  of  architecture  is  evidently  an  adaptation  of  the  Grecian 
orders  to  the  old  Tartar  proportions ;  but  these,  as  well  as  every 
ancient  Church  in  Russia,  have  had  a  distant  reference  to  St. 
Sophia  at  Consantinople. 

"  The  library  of  the  synod  contains  some  valuable  manuscripts, 
a  copy  of  the  four  evangelists,  brought  from  Mount  Athos  by 
Nicon  the  patriarch,  as  well  as  a  robe  sent  by  one  of  the  Constan- 
tinopolitan  emperors,  to  the  patriarch  Joseph,  which  has  the  Nicene 
creed  embroidered  on  it  in  pearls.  Potemkin  is  accused  by 
popular  rumour  of  having  embezzled  great  part  of  the  riches  in 
the  Kremlin.  (I  must  not  forget  that,  on  procession  days,  the 
patriai'ch's  horse  was  shod  with  silver.) 

"  The  present  imperial  apartments  are  small,  and  only  in- 
habited during  coronations.  The  Emperor,  when  at  Moscow,  is 
usually  at  his  palace  in  the  German  Sloboda,  formerly  the  house  of 
the  Count  Besborodko  ;  it  is  a  large  wooden  building,  containing  a 
neat  Chapel,  some  good  rooms,  and  bad  paintings.  A  few  common 
Russians  were  copying  them  with  great  diligence  and  even  genius. 

2 


160  FOUNDLING  HOSPITAL. 

CHAR  These  men,  we  were  told,  were  employed  to  finish  some  of  the 
'^"■^-  Churches.  Near  this  palace  is  the  military  hospital,  a  very  large 
and  magnificent  building,  clean  and  well  kept.  The  number  of 
patients  was  not  very  great ;  most  of  their  disorders  were  rheumatic, 
or  proceeded  from  general  debility  and  over  labour.  In  the  dis- 
secting-room we  saw  the  body  of  a  man  recently  brought  in,  who 
had  died  of  suffocation  on  a  stove  which  had  been  closed  too  soon  ; 
he  was  a  stranger,  and  without  a  passport,  and  was  therefore  sent 
here  for  the  use  of  the  surgeons ;  his  breast  was  much  distended, 
the  blood  fixed  in  his  face,  and  the  whole  figure  very  horrible. 

"  The  foundling-hospital  is  near  the  river,  at  the  east  corner 
of  the  Kitai-gorod  ;  it  is  a  very  high  and  large  white  building,  built 
round  a  court,  having  one  great  wing  adorned  with  three  domes, 
and  surrounded  by  a  semicircle  of  smaller  buildings,  the  gift  of  one 
of  the  Dimidofs  ;  it  has  a  very  fine  play-ground  for  the  boys,  and 
another  for  the  girls,  besides  a  large  garden.  The  building  is  di- 
vided into  small  wards,  all  warm  and  well  ventilated  with  air  tubes. 
On  the  ground-floor  is  a  small  reception  room,  with  a  font  for  bap- 
tizing such  children  as  are  brought  in  without  the  little  cross  hung 
round  the  neck,  the  necessary  sign  of  a  Greek  Christian.  Tlie  day- 
rooms  are  all  on  one  story,  and  the  bed-rooms  above.  On  the  first 
floor  is  a  room  furnished  with  couches  for  such  mothers  as  require 
only  rest ;  and  several  other  rooms  are  fitted  up,  as  a  lying-in  hos- 
pital, with  great  elegance  and  simplicity  by  the  empress-mother, 
who  has  given  largely  to  the  fund.  No  charitable  institution  is 
indeed  overlooked  by  her,  and  she  keeps  up  a  constant  correspond- 
ence with  the  old  grand  chamberlain,  Gallitzin,  on  benevolent 
schemes  and  institutions.  The  number  of  children  regularly  main- 
tained in  the  house  is  about  six  hundred,  two  hundred  and  fifty 
boys  and  three  huncbed  and  fifty  girls.  The  number  received 
between  the  months  of  January,  1805  and  1806,  was  2960.  Every 
month,  such  of  the  children  as  have  been  vaccinated  are  sent  with 
their  nurses  into  the  country,  where  they  remain  till  they  are  five 
years  old  ;  they  are  then  taken  back  into  the  house  as  fast  as  there 
are  vacancies,  where  they  are  educated  till  they  are  eighteen,  and 


FOUNDLING  HOSPITAL.  161 

are  then  dismissed  with  thirty  rubles  and  two  suits  of  clothes  ;  the  chap. 
numbers  thus  sent  into  the  country  average  about  one  hundred  iso^- 
and  thirty.  Before  the  introduction  of  vaccination,  the  mortality 
Mas  much  greater  among  them  than  it  is  at  present,  although  they 
were  inoculated  for  the  small-pox.  Such  children  as  have  one  hun- 
di-ed  rubles  sent  with  them  are  called  pensioners  ;  they  are  better 
clothed  and  instructed  than  the  rest,  and  are  never  sent  into  the 
country ;  their  number  generally  averages  from  twenty  to  thirty 
in  the  course  of  the  year ;  at  present  there  are  seventy  :  the  mor- 
tahty  among  them  is  greater  than  among  such  as  go  into  the 
country, 

"  The  appearance  of  the  chikh-en  is  pale  and  sickly,  but  they 
are  kept  very  clean  :  their  food  is  good,  but  they  are  allowed  no  milk 
for  breakfast :  those  of  four  or  five  years  old,  after  eating,  lie  down 
for  an  hour  on  a  sort  of  platform  or  inclined  plane  covered  with 
cushions.  They  are  all  taught  to  read  and  write,  as  well  as  to  speak 
German,  which  however  they  most  of  them  do  very  imperfectly  ; 
the  boys  when  little  are  employed  in  knitting  stockings :  those  that 
are  intended  for  the  mechcal  line  are  taught  Latin  ;  and  such  as 
show  capacity  are  sent  to  study  physic  in  foreign  universities  ;  there 
are  two  now  at  Strasburg ;  the  others  are  chiefly  brought  up  as 
shoemakers  and  tailors.  The  girls  are  taught  to  embroider,  &c. 
and  some  of  them  are  educated  as  midwives  and  nurses.  The 
number  of  mu'ses  in  the  house  is  about  four  huntked  ;  they  receive 
high  wages,  sometimes,  under  particular  circumstances,  as  much  as 
a  ruble  daily ;  their  number  in  the  country  I  did  not  ascertain ; 
they  each  receive  fifteen  rubles  annually ;  almost  all  the  nurses  and 
officers  of  the  establishment  are  Germans. 

"  The  mode  of  reception  is  very  simple;  the  child  is  taken  without 
any  questions  being  asked,  and  immediately  baptized,  unless  it  has  its 
cross  about  its  neck.  Women  may  come  for  their  dehvery  and  leave 
theii-  children,  after  staying  a  sufficient  time  for  their  own  recovery. 
This  is  an  addition  of  the  Empress  mother's,  who  has  herself  sent 
the  plans  for  the  beds,  &c. ;  every  thing  is  kept  scrupulously  clean 
and  neat.  The  expenses  of  the  estabhshment  amount  altogether 
VOL.  I.  y 


162  THEATRES— COLLEGE  FOR  FOREIGN  AFFAIRS. 


CHAP,     to  138,000  rubles  annually ;  the  children's  work,  after  the  cost  of 

1805.      teaching  and  materials  is  deducted,  produces  1900  rubles  a  year; 

the  annual  expense  of  each  child  is  computed  at  150  rubles. 

"  The  hospital  of  Prince  Gallitzin  is  a  fine  building,  about  three 
versts  from  the  town,  built  in  the  form  of  a  crescent,  with  a  small 
circular  Chapel  in  the  centre,  of  which  the  choir  is  very  famous.  A 
little  to  the  right  is  the  convent  of  Donskoy,  where  Ambrose,  the 
late  archbishop  of  Moscow  lost  his  life ;  he  was  torn  to  pieces  by 
the  people  for  having  removed  an  image  to  which  they  crowded  in 
great  numbers  'during  the  plague,  and  which  consequently  spread 
the  infection  wider ;  this  happened  during  Catherine's  reign.  There 
is  also  another  fine  hospital  now  building  at  the  expense  of  the 
family  of  Sheremetof  Count  Sheremetof  is  the  richest  subject  in 
Russia ;  his  income  is  stated  to  amount  to  800,000  rubles  annually, 
and  the  number  of  his  peasants  is  above  100,000.  He  has  some 
magnificent  houses  near  Moscow,  one  of  which  named  Aslarkina 
we  went  to  see,  but  it  contained  nothing  very  interesting. 

"  The  theatres  all  over  Russia  pay  a  per  centage  on  the 
profits  of  each  night's  representation  to  the  foundling-hospital ; 
that  at  Moscow  was  managed  by  an  Englishman  named  Mattocks ; 
it  was  burnt  down  two  years  since  by  a  fire  which  originated 
during  the  rehearsal  of  the  Rosalie ;  it  consisted  of  an  immense 
rotunda,  a  theatre,  and  a  ball-room.  The  assembly-room  of  the 
nobles'  club  is  very  magnificent, — like  that  of  York  on  a  scale  of 
perhaps  three  times  its  size.  The  university  contains  about  400 
students,  a  good  mineralogical  collection  given  by  M.  Dimidof, 
and  a  sorry  cabinet  of  stuffed  birds  and  beasts  bought  by  the 
emperor  for  30,000  rubles  from  the  executors  of  a  Pohsh  countess. 

"  The  college  for  foreign  affairs  is  an  old  palace  where  the 
archives  are  kept ;  the  upper  part  of  the  building  is  thrown  into  a 
succession  of  public  offices,  where  a  number  of  lads  are  employed 
copying  and  reading  a  vast  multitude  of  papers,  the  nature  of 
which  I  could  never  exactly  ascertain.  So  much  is  done  by 
writing  in  this  country  that  there  is,  probably,  always  sufficient 
employment  for  them.     The  young  men  of  good  families  are  sent 


PRISON— INUNDATION.  163 

here  as  to  a  school :  whence  the  cleverest  and  those  who  have  most  chap. 
mfluence,  are  sent  off  to  the  college  of  foreign  affairs  at  Petersburg,  '805. 
and  thence  again  transplanted  to  the  trains  of  foreign  embassies, 
or  employed  as  messengers.  Their  number  is  enormous,  it  being 
necessary  for  every  gentleman  to  have  some  civil  or  military  rank. 
At  present,  indeed,  there  is  a  new  method  of  acquiring  rank;  persons 
who  have  not  served  either  in  a  civil  or  military  rank  may,  for 
1200  rubles,  purchase  a  cross  of  Malta,  but  this  is  considered  as 
no  very  proud  distinction.  Young  V  *  *  *  had  such  a  cross,  and 
at  Kostroma  we  met  a  young  man  with  a  similar  one.  The  college 
of  foreign  affairs  itself  contains  the  well  knoAm  letters  which  passed 
between  Ivan  and  our  Elizabeth  on  the  subject  of  his  intended 
marriage  \nth  Lady  Anne  Hastings ;  several  treaties  and  messages 
between  the  different  sovereigns  of  Russia  and  England ;  the 
famous  treaty  between  Russia  and  China,  by  which  Russia  aban- 
doned so  much  territory  ;  the  order  of  the  garter  sent  by  Charles 
the  Second  to  the  minister  Narischkin  ;  some  correspondence  of  an 
angry  nature  between  Peter  the  Great  and  George  the  First,  and 
many  Persian  and  Asiatic  treaties.  The  Russians  show  with  great 
eagerness  the  deed  in  which  the  emperor  Maximilian  acknowledges 
the  sovereign  of  Muscovy  as  emperor. 

"  The  pohce  of  Moscow  is  very  good,  and  the  prison  in 
excellent  order ;  it  is  a  stone  building,  on  a  very  convenient  plan, 
consisting  of  four  wings  with  a  Chapel  in  the  centre.  The  number 
of  prisoners  I  do  not  remember ;  most  of  them  were  runaway 
slaves.  One  well-dressed  man  was  imprisoned  for  forgery ;  and 
three  young  men  in  uniform,  with  their  father,  a  venerable  peasant 
of  sixty  or  seventy  years  old  with  a  long  beard,  were  just  found 
guilty  of  issuing  false  government  notes  ;  their  punishment  awaited 
the  emperor's  decision.  Banishment  to  Siberia  was  expected  to 
be  the  sentence. 

"  After  we  left  Moscow  a  remarkable  inundation  took  place 
m  the  month  of  April,  when,  owing  to  the  sudden  melting  of  the 
snow,  the  river  rose  to  an  unparalleled  height,  and  entirely  inun- 
dated the  Zamlenoy  Gorod  (the  town  on  the  right  bank.)     Great 

y  2 


164  RUSSIAN  FUNERALS. 

CHAP,     clamaffe  was  done,  but  no  lives  were  lost.     A  similar  accident  had 
i«»5.      never  been  remembered  ;  the  banks  of  the  river  are  very  high,  and 
the  quays  are  at  least  thirty  feet  above  the  ordinary  level  of  the 
water. 

"  During  the  carnival  the  river,  which  was  then  frozen,  be- 
came a  crowded  street,  covered  with  booths,  ice-hills,  and  whirli- 
gigs. A  short  time  before  we  had  seen  a  very  different  ceremony, 
the  blessing  of  the  waters ;  it  was  attended  by  an  enormous  crowd 
of  people,  but  there  were  few  troops,  and  but  little  of  the  splen- 
dour which  we  hear  of  on  similar  occasions  at  Petersburg.  The 
sight,  however,  of  near  two  hundred  thousand  people,  disposed  in 
a  sort  of  natural  amphitheatre  formed  by  the  banks  of  the  river, 
and  all  in  the  act  of  w  orshipping,  could  not  fail  to  be  very  striking ; 
and  in  this  point  Moscow  would  have  the  advantage.  The  cere- 
monies are  not  long  ;  they  are  described  by  King ;  the  intention  is 
to  represent  the  baptism  in  the  river  Jordan. 

"  The  Russian  Church-singing  is  plaintive  and  very  beautiful ; 
nothing  is  so  striking  as  the  repetition  of  Gospodi  pomillui  (Lord 
have  mercy  upon  us.)  There  are  particular  Churches  at  Moscow 
which  are  famous  for  their  music,  and  are  crowded  by  the  idle  and 
the  dissipated  as  places  of  amusement.  The  Chapel  of  Gallitzin's 
hospital  is  one,  and  the  church  of  Nicetas  the  martyr  another  of 
these  favourite  places  of  resort. 

"  We  were  unlucky  enough  to  miss  repeated  opportunities  of 
seeing  great  funerals.  The  body,  as  we  understood,  is  dressed  in 
its  best  clothes,  with  the  face  painted,  and  laid  on  an  open  bier. 
After  the  burial  service  is  read,  the  relations  advance  one  by  one, 
and  kiss  the  cold  cheek  as  a  last  farewell.  The  Russians  are  said 
to  regard  death  with  great  superstitious  horror.  I  never  myself 
saw  any  particular  instances  of  it.  Mr.  Carr  pretends  that  they 
cannot  endure  the  sight  of  any  picture  representing  death ;  this  is 
ridiculous,  as  their  Churches  are  full  of  martyrdoms,  and  their 
houses  of  battle-pieces ;  to  say  nothing  of  the  dead  Christs  and 
descents  from  the  cross,  which  often  fill  the  corners  of  their  rooms. 
In  one  of  the  corners  a  saint  or  a  religious  picture  is  always  hung, 


SILK  MANUFACTORIES.  165 


and  in  religious  families  a  lamp  is  kept  constantly  burning  before    chap. 


V. 


it.  The  manner  of  worshipping,  whether  at  Church  or  at  home,  "'Q^- 
is  by  bending  the  body  very  low,  sometimes  touching  the  ground 
with  the  fingers  in  token  of  humility,  crossing  the  head,  breast,  and 
shoulders  with  the  three  fingers  joined,  and  sometimes  even  strik- 
ing the  head  against  the  ground.  *  *  * 

"  The  vast  population  of  Moscow  is  apparently  supported  by 
very  few  manufactories ;  there  is  one  considerable  one  of  silk 
opposite  the  house  of  M.  Dimidof ;  a  great  want  of  machinery  is 
visible  here  as  well  as  evei-y  where  in  Russia ;  some  of  the  most 
simple  inventions  are  unknown,  such  as  the  shuttle  which  enables 
one  man  to  weave  the  widest  web.  A  prodigious  quantity  of  silk 
is  worn  in  the  country ;  all  the  women  of  the  lower  and  middling 
classes  wear  silk  handkerchiefs  ;  the  richer  among  them  have  silk 
gowns,  and  their  heads  are  covered  with  silk  handkerchiefs  richly 
embroidered  with  gold.  The  finery  of  these  damsels,  their  exces- 
sive quantity  of  paint,  and  their  bad  black  teeth  are  very  remarkable 
at  a  holiday  time.  In  all  manufactories  and  all  in-doors'  employ- 
ment the  Russian  peasant  wears  nothing  but  his  shirt  and  drawers ; 
the  former  is  generally  dyed  red  and  embroidered  with  blue  under 
the  arms ;  it  is  made  round  and  full  like  a  tunic,  and  hangs  over 
the  drawers  almost  to  the  knee." 

To  Richard  Heber,  Esq. 

Moscow,  Feb.  24,  1806. 

"  My  Deaii  Brother, 

"  We  are  still  in  this  place  in  expectation  of  our 
final  directions  from  home.  *  »  *  ]y[y  Mother's  and 
Mr.  Thornton's  letters  were  received  by  us  on  the  same  day,  and 
entirely  knocked  on  the  head  one  of  the  rarest  tours,  journeys,  or 
pilgrimages  that  have  been  made  since  the  time  of  Lithgow.  Being 
at  our  wit's  end  at  not  receiving  instructions  sooner,  we  had 
determined  to  take  a  course  which  wovxld  fall  in  with  our  grand 
object  of  penetrating  to  Constantinople,  and  would,  at  the  same 


1.66  PROPOSED  TOUR. 

CHAP,  time,  leave  us  at  full  liberty  to  vary  our  plans  according  to  circum- 
1805.  stances.  It  was,  to  set  off  immediately  for  Casan,  a  place  interest- 
ing on  every  account,  and  as  yet  unvisited  by  any  English  traveller ; 
from  thence  to  follow  the  stream  of  the  Volga,  by  Simbirsk  and 
Saratof  to  Astracan,  to  pass  the  steppe  or  great  desert  to  Tcher- 
kask  and  the  Don  Cossaks,  to  make  the  tour  of  the  Crimea  to 
Odessa,  and  thence  either  return  by  Kiof  or  Poland,  or  proceed  to 
Constantinople,  as  your  letters  might  direct.  Our  letters  were  all 
ready,  and  our  baggage  packed  up  for  this  journey,  of  which  the 
distance  was  the  only  inconvenience,  and  this  we  were  inclined  to 
think  was  counterbalanced  by  its  numerous  advantages.  It  would 
have  led  us  through  all  the  most  interesting  provinces  of  Russia, 
the  seat  of  their  greatest  population  and  commerce,  and  all  their 
antiquities,  as  well  as  those  of  their  ancient  Tartar  masters,  from 
whom  the  kingdoms  of  Casan  and  Astracan  were  wrested  so  lately 
as  by  Ivan  the  Second.  At  Casan  it  was  our  intention  to  have 
passed  the  carnival ;  and  the  introductions  with  which  we  were 
very  amply  furnished,  would  have  brought  us  acquainted  with  all 
the  ancient  Russ  families,  who  are  very  numerous  in  that  province, 
and  pass  their  lives  in  the  real  national  manner;  never  seeing  Peters- 
burg and  very  seldom  even  Moscow,  the  place  of  which  is  supplied 
by  Casan,  a  town  on  the  true  eastern  scale  in  extent  and  popu- 
lation. It  was  besides  no  small  inducement  that  we  should  pass 
the  principal  Mongul,  Tartar,  and  Calmuck  hordes,  and  see  the 
Cossaks  hving  in  their  o^\ai  villages,  and  under  their  own  military 
republic.  I  believe,  likewise,  the  very  prospect  of  seeing  again 
an  oak  tree,  for  which  the  banks  of  the  Volga  and  the  Asiatic 
provinces  are  famous,  had  no  little  influence. 

"  As,  however,  our  fiiends'  letters  evidently  gave  us  to  under- 
stand that  they  did  not  approve  of  our  getting  very  far  out  of  their 
knowledge,  we  have  entirely  given  up  the  ettoikov  ayiag  Aaiag 
TTsdov,  and  even  Constantinople  itself,  with  all  the  temptations  of 
Athens  and  Corinth,  comforting  ourselves  with  the  old  proverb, 
'  non  ciiivis  homini  cont'mgit.'  Instead  of  this  we  are  setting  our 
faces  homewards,  and  intend  to  go  by  Kiof,  the   Ukraine,    and 


BEAUTY  OF  THE  WOMEN.  167 

Moravia  to  Vienna,  and  thence  through  Bohemia  and  Dresden  to  chap. 
Berhn.  This  course  we  are  induced  to  take,  from  the  information  isos. 
we  have  had  fi-om  Mr.  Stuart ',  the  secretary  of  legation  at  Peters- 
burg,  who  is  now  here,  on  his  return  from  Presburg  and  Buda, 
through  Hungary.  He  says  the  French  have  evacuated  Germany, 
that  Su-  Arthur  Paget  is  returned  to  Vienna,  and  that  an  Enghshman 
may  go  tlu-ough  any  part  of  the  country  ^^^th  perfect  secm'ity. 
Under  these  circumstances,  the  accuracy  and  certainty  of  which  it 
is  impossible  to  doubt,  it  would  be  almost  a  crime  to  lose  the  oppor- 
tunity of  obtaining  the  information  which  may  be  derived  from 
seeing  a  country  recovering  from  the  effects  of  so  terrible  an  inva- 
sion, especially  as  we  shall  really  lose  so  little  time  by  the  detour. 
In  particular  you  may  assure  my  mother,  that  though  there  is 
misery  enough,  there  are  no  banditti ;  and  that  an  Austrian  is  more 
inclined  to  beg  than  fight.  If,  however,  your  letters  should  ex- 
press a  wish  for  us  to  return  immediately,  we  shall  abandon  this 
scheme  and  every  other  with  equal  readiness.  The  thoughts  of 
seeing  home,  and  the  wish  to  make  our  friends  easy,  will  either  of 
them  be  sufficient  to  make  even  the  sands  of  Prussia  an  agreeable 
jom-ney.  In  the  mean  time,  we  fag  at  German  and  pass  our  even- 
ings in  a  round  of  amusements  almost  to  satiety.  Amusement  is, 
indeed,  the  great  business  of  Moscow,  and  to  do  them  justice, 
'  on  s  amuse  paifaitement  hien.' 

"  In  my  last  letter  I  said  something  disrespectful  of  the  beauty 
of  the  Moscow  ladies,  which,  now  that  I  have  got  more  into  their 
society,  I  must  contradict ;  it  is  the  only  place  since  I  left  England 
where  I  have  met  with  a  really  interesting  female  society,  and 
at  the  assemblies  of  the  nobles  we  see  many  faces  that  might 
be  supposed  to  belong  to  Lancashire  or  Cheshire.  Of  their  hos- 
pitality you  may  judge,  when  I  say  that  I  have  only  dined  once  at 
home  since  our  arrival,  and  then  we  had  an  invitation  which  we 
declined.  Of  instruction  to  be  acquired  at  Moscow,  I  can  give 
but  a  moderate  account ;    there  are  very  few  people  who  think  at 

'  Now  Lord  Stuart  de  Rothsay. — Ed. 
9 


168  ARCHBISHOP  OF  MOSCOW. 

CHAP,  all,  and  of  these  few  many  think  amiss.  To  MafFai,  the  librarian 
ifl05.  of  the  sacred  synod,  we  have  been  promised  introductions,  but  his 
health  is  so  infirm  that  he  can  rarely  see  strangers.  We  have, 
however,  made  one  distinguished  literary  acquaintance  in  the  per- 
son of  the  Archbishop  Plato,  with  whom  we  passed  a  day  at  his 
convent  at  Troitza,  about  forty  miles  from  Moscow.  We  found  him 
a  fine  cheerful  old  man,  with  a  white  beard  floating  over  his  breast. 
He  asked  us  many  qviestions  about  Porson,  and  on  finding  we  knew 
him,  showed  us  his  Greek  books,  which  were  not  very  numerous,  and 
consisting  entirely  of  the  Fathers ;  he  made  us  construe  a  page  of 
St.  Chrysostom's  litany,  which  put  us  into  his  good  graces,  and  he 
insisted  on  our  dining  and  passing  the  day  with  him.  He  speaks 
tolerable  French  and  Latin,  but  Greek  more  readily  than  either. 
We  had  a  long  and  very  interesting  conversation  with  him  on  the 
history  and  internal  state  of  Russia ;  he  expressed  great  horror  of 
popery,  and  said  the  English  government  had  done  a  very  wicked 
thing  in  tolerating  it.  This  was,  however,  quite  in  a  different  tone 
from  his  general  sentiments,  which  were  candid  and  tolerant.  He 
coincided  very  much,  both  in  appearance  and  manner  with  our 
ideas  of  a  primitive  bishop ;  and  vmfortunately  his  circumstances 
seemed  primitive  too.  The  house,  and  the  dinner  were  those  of 
a  poor  man,  and  I  often  thought  of  Whitaker's  '  Father  Tempest.' 
The  Greek  priests  indeed,  though  clothed  in  purple  and  fine  linen, 
are  far  from  faring  sumptuously  ;  their  lands  are  secularized,  they 
have  no  tithes,  and  their  allowances  are  very  small.  In  point  of 
education  they  are  improving  fast,  as  public  schools  are  pretty 
generally  established,  partly  by  the  crown,  and  partly  by  private 
benefactions.  The  munificent  benevolence  of  the  Russians  is 
indeed  very  great  ;  we  have  found  every  where  charitable  institu- 
tions founded  by  private  persons,  as  well  as  new  Churches  on  a 
magnificent  scale.  One  old  gentleman  whom  we  know  personally, 
a  M.  Dimidof,  has  during  his  lifetime  given  away  upwards  of  half- 
a-million  of  rubles,  about  76,000/.  to  different  institutions. 

"  Our  visit  to  Plato  was  made  during  a  fortnight's  tour  to  the 
east,   which  we  took  instead  of  our  great  Casan  and  Astrachan 


JOURNEY  TO  KOSTROMA.  169 

journey,  and  from  which,  though  our  furthest  point  was  not  above  chap. 
three  hundred  versts,  we  have  derived  great  pleasure  and  instruc-  •^o^- 
tion,  as  ovu*  route  lay  through  a  very  wealthy  and  important  dis- 
trict, little  known  to  travellers.  Mr.  Harris  ',  Lord  Malmsbury's  son, 
was  the  only  traveller  whom  motives  of  curiosity  had  di-awn  there 
before  us ;  and  we  went  one  hundred  versts  further  than  he  had 
done,  follo\\'ing  the  Volga  through  Pereslav,  Yaroslav,  and  Kos- 
troma. Pereslav  is  chiefly  remarkable  for  its  antiquity,  and  as 
being  built  on  the  lake  on  which  Peter  the  Great,  when  very  young, 
first  launched  a  boat.  Yaroslav  is  a  large  and  ancient  city, 
about  a  third  part  of  the  size  of  Moscow,  in  a  noble  situation  on 
the  Volga,  which  even  here,  though  above  a  thousand  miles  from 
the  sea,  is  as  wide  as  the  Thames  at  Blackfriars.  It  has  some 
considerable  linen  manufactures,  and  the  population  of  the  pro- 
vince is,  for  Russia,  very  great,  being  at  the  rate  of  about  one 
hunth-ed  and  twenty  to  a  square  English  mile.  The  peasants  and 
burghers  still  preserve  their  ancient  dress  and  manners,  and  the 
costvunes  of  Yaroslav  and  Kostroma  are  precisely  the  same  as  when 
the  patriarch  Theodore  concealed  his  infant  son  (afterwards  the 
Emperor  Michael)  in  the  convent  of  the  latter  place,  which,  except 
its  convents  and  a  mosque,  has  little  that  is  remarkable.  The 
population  of  the  country  is  here  blended  with  the  Tartars  and  other 
Mahomedans ;  and  we  found,  among  various  marks  of  our  pro- 
gress eastward,  the  commencement  of  the  oak  timber,  which  thrives 
only  in  these  rich  provinces,  and  is  rarely  found  in  the  hungry  sand 
to  the  westward.  Among  many  other  novelties  and  amusements, 
we  had  a  wolf-hunt  on  the  frozen  Volga ;  and  at  Kostroma,  which 
was  the  limit  of  our  journey,  we  were  entertained  for  two  days  in 
the  ancient  Russ  style  by  a  rich  merchant,  an  old  man,  wdth  a  long 
gowai  and  white  beard,  so  exactly  like  the  hermit  at  Hawkstone, 
that  I  was  almost  afraid  to  look  him  in  the  face.  Every  thing  here 
was  eastern ;  his  two  daughters  had,  we  were  told,  according  to 

'  The  late  Hon.  and  Rev.  Alfred  Harris. — Ed. 
VOL.  I.  Z 


170  JOURNEY  TO  KOSTROMA. 

CHAP,  custom,  been  shut  up  from  the  age  of  twelve,  when  they  are  con- 
1806.  sidered  marriageable,  from  all  eyes  till  the  day  of  marriage,  when 
they  are  produced  to  the  bridegroom,  with  their  cheeks  painted 
red,  their  teeth  blackened,  their  eye-brows  shaved,  and  a  tire  two 
feet  high,  all  of  pearls,  on  their  heads.  Of  these  dresses  I  saw 
several,  and  they  are  the  most  costly  deformities  I  ever  beheld. 
We  were  not  at  all  surprised  to  find  in  this  good  man's  house  some 
excellent  sweet  wine,  made  of  cranberries ;  but  I  was  a  little  at 
seeing  some  very  good  tokay  and  champagne,  which  he  forced 
upon  us  most  plentifully.  His  good  beds  and  clean  house  were 
great  treats  to  us,  as  the  wretchedness  of  our  ordinary  lodgings 
could  scarcely  be  conceived  by  an  Englishman,  any  more  than  the 
cold  we  felt  during  our  journey.  With  a  pair  of  pantaloons  and 
overalls,  two  pair  of  worsted  stockings,  a  pair  of  socks,  and  boots 
lined  with  fur,  our  feet  were  still  cold ;  and  we  were  glad  to  warm 
ourselves  in  the  post-houses,  which  were  certainly  hot  enough  in 
all  conscience.  We  were,  however,  so  well  clothed  and  fed,  that 
we  have  escaped  without  either  colds  or  rheumatism ;  and  after 
having  been  well  bumped  on  some  four  hundi-ed  miles  of  the  worst 
roads  in  the  world,  and  having  been  well  received  in  some  of  the 
pleasantest  parties  we  have  seen  in  Russia,  (in  particular  at  Prince 
Gallitzin's,  the  governor  of  Yaroslav,)  we  returned  safe  and  well  for 
the  amusements  and  splendour  of  the  carnival.  We  found  the 
houses  on  the  road  all  on  the  same  plan,  much  inferior  to  those 
between  Moscow  and  Petersburg.  The  inns  are  distinguished  by 
a  very  large  open  stable,  which  admits  the  horses  and  carts  of  tra- 
vellers and  warriors ;  it  is  called  serai,  and  when  applied  to  the 
lodgement  of  a  numerous  body  of  merchants,  becomes  the  well- 
known  compound,  caravan-serai. 

"  Your  sincerely  affectionate 

"  Reginald  Heber." 


P.ILACE  OF  COUNT  SHEREMETOF.  171 


FROM  MOSCOW  TO  KOSTROMA. 

"  February  4ik,  1806. — Left  Moscow  for  this  journey;  the 
road  Hes  by  a  magnificent  hospital  just  within  the  gates  of  Moscow, 
built  at  the  expence  of  the  Sheremetof  family ;  it  is  in  the  form 
of  a  semi-circle,  with  a  semi-circular  projecting  portico  in  the 
centre.  I  could  not  learn  any  thing  of  the  nature  of  its  institution, 
except  that  it  is  intended  for  charitable  purposes ;  indeed  it  is  yet 
unfinished.  We  passed  under  the  admiralty,  a  building  so  called, 
where  recruits  for  the  sea-service  are  mustered,  contracts  made  for 
timber  and  stores,  and  other  business  done  which  has  relation  to 
the  navy.  It  is  a  high  brick  tower  built  over  a  gateway,  with  a 
large  eagle  on  the  top,  diminishing  as  it  ascends  so  as  to  have 
much  the  air  of  a  pagoda.  The  building  is  ancient,  and  originated 
in  the  whim  of  a  private  Russ  merchant  who  built  it  as  a  ware- 
house. The  country  immediately  without  the  barrier  is  rather 
better  wooded  than  Russian  landscapes  generally  are,  having  many 
lime  trees,  whose  shade  is  more  massive  than  the  birch,  and  less 
formal  than  the  fir.  At  about  three  versts  on  the  right-hand  side 
is  an  unfinished  aqueduct  carried  on  arches  across  a  small  valley ; 
though  of  the  simplest  construction  and  only  of  whitewashed 
brick,  it  has  a  very  pleasing  effect ;  it  is  intended  to  continue  it  to 
the  city.  A  house  of  Count  Sheremetof,  Rostankina,  is  a  conspi- 
cuous object  on  the  left  hand,  distant  from  Moscow  about  five 
versts ;  it  is  very  much  admired  by  the  Moscovites,  but  has  not 
much  merit  to  boast  of,  being  a  slight  building  of  wood ;  a  fine 
old  brick  Church  stands  close  to  it.  The  house  contains  one  very 
elegant  saloon  on  the  ground-floor,  being  a  lofty  dome-roofed 
quadrangle,  with  small  circular  recesses  round  it,  filled  with 
statues  ;  one  of  these  is  entirely  lined  with  marble,  and  has  a  large 
vase  in  the  centre  supported  by  three  female  figures  as  large  as 
life ;  though  the  workmanship  is  not  extraordinary  the  effect  is 
pleasmg.     In  another  of  the  recesses  are  two  small  statues  repre- 

z  2 


CHAP. 

v. 

1806. 


17-2  PALACE  OF  COUNT  SHEREMETOF. 


180C. 


CHAP,  senting  Catherine  in  a  sitting  posture,  and  Potemkin,  as  an  ancient 
warrior,  presenting  her  the  crescent ;  the  rest  of  the  ground-floor 
is  in  arcades,  very  cool  and  pleasant  in  summer,  and  furnished  with 
some  taste,  though  much  too  gaudily,  which  is,  indeed,  the  fault 
of  the  whole  building.  Above  are  a  private  theatre,  and  several 
good  rooms,  but  furnished  in  a  more  gaudy  style  than  those  beloAV, 
with  some  of  the  worst  pictures  I  ever  saw,  the  handy-work  of  a 
slave  in  the  family  ;  they  are  enclosed  in  gilt  frames  of  half  a  ton 
each,  particularly  one  of  Paul  in  his  uniform,  which  covers  the 
whole  side  of  a  room.  In  the  grand  dome-roofed  hall,  which  is 
lighted  from  the  top,  is  a  statue  of  Hygeia,  the  trunk  of  which  is 
an  antique  found  at  Athens,  and  the  legs,  arms  and  head  modern  ; 
and  a  statue  of  Catherine,  remarkable  for  that  false  kind  of  dignity 
which  distinguishes  modern  from  ancient  works  of  art ;  it  has, 
however,  merit  in  several  respects.  Catherine's  manner  of  dressing 
her  hair  in  a  prodigiously  high  toupee  is  very  ungraceful  when  it 
thus  '  takes  immortal  buckle.'  In  the  last  room  we  saw,  a  little 
place  which  serves  as  antichamber  to  the  room  M'here  some  models 
and  china  are  exhibited,  is  a  good  picture  of  some  beggars  and 
an  ass. 

"  The  proprietor  of  this  and  many  other  similar  houses,  Coimt 
Sheremetof,  is  reputed  the  richest  subject  in  Russia,  though  his 
circumstances  are  now  a  good  deal  embarrassed  ;  his  number  of 
peasants  is  120,000,  all  at  very  moderate  rents,  though  some  are 
exceedingly  rich  ;  one  man  was  mentioned  to  us  who  had  purchased 
his  liberty  for  30,000  rubles,  and  there  are  many  others  who  have  bid 
almost  equal  sums.  Several  of  these  peasants  themselves  possess 
two  or  three  hvmdred  slaves  under  the  name  of  their  master.  There 
is  one  village  near  Yaroslav  which  is  famous  for  the  wealth  of  its 
inhabitants.  In  general  the  peasants  of  very  great  lords  who,  it 
is  known,  will  not  raise  their  rent,  become  as  industrious  and 
acquire  as  much  taste  for  luxuries  as  any  other  people ;  so  false  is 
that  proposition  which  we  have  often  heard  maintained,  that  the 
peasants  if  indulged  become  only  more  indolent  and  miserable. 
"  Count  Sheremetof  derives  a  considerable  part  of  his  property 


MANNERS  OF  THE  RUSSIAN  GENTRY.  173 

from  the  rent  of  houses  in  Petersburg,  which  contain  one  or  more    chap. 
famihes  on  each  floor,  being  inhabited  mostly  by  the  lower  classes  ;      ^^^''• 
one  of  these  houses  was  pointed  out  to  us  as  containing  many 
hundred  souls.     His  income  in  rubles  is  about  800,000,  and  might, 
possibly,  be  greatly  augmented. 

"  This  description  of  Count  Sheremetof 's  country-house  will 
not  answer  to  the  general  abodes  of  Russian  gentlemen.  Rural 
magnificence,  the  ancient  hall  or  castle,  or  even  a  respectable 
country-seat  is  what  they  have  no  idea  of.  Their  villas  are  gene- 
rally small  low  buildings  of  wood;  of  seldom  more  than  one  story, 
consisting  of  four  or  five  rooms  passing  one  out  of  the  other, 
and  always  beginning  with  the  room  where  they  dine ;  the  bed- 
room of  the  master  and  mistress,  which  is  also  used  as  a  sitting- 
room,  and  for  receiving  company,  concludes  the  suite.  These 
apartments  occupy  the  front  of  the  house  ;  behind  are  the  kitchen 
and  some  dirty  holes,  where  the  servants  and  the  other  members 
of  the  family  sleep.  Visitors  are  accommodated  with  temporary 
beds,  contrived  on  the  floor  or  sofa  of  the  drawing-room,  A  Russian 
sleeps  A\'ith  but  one  sheet ;  over  him  he  has  only  a  single  coverlid, 
and  seldom  takes  off* any  clothes  but  his  shoes  and  coat ;  the  women 
sleep  in  night-gowns  ;  an  English  lady  at  Moscow  was  taxed  with 
great  indecency  because  she  midi*essed  at  night.  They  generally 
rise  early  and  are  cbessed  in  a  few  minutes ;  a  servant  pours  a 
little  water  on  their  hands,  they  wash  their  own  faces,  and  their 
todet  is  soon  finished.  They  sometimes  take  a  single  cup  of 
tea,  but  never  any  thing  more  before  noon  ;  an  English  break- 
fast is,  I  beheve,  miknown  on  the  continent.  At  Moscow  we  were 
sometimes  invited  to  breakfast  (i  F Anglais  ;  but  always  found  that 
they  imagined  an  English  breakfast  was  a  meal  on  beefsteaks 
and  champagne.  The  cold  collation  and  liqueurs  which  they 
take  before  dinner,  are  called  le  dejeuner,  as  well  as  la  clialle, 
and  few  people  eat  any  thing  sooner.  These  customs  they  have 
in  common  with  the  Swedes,  Danes,  Germans,  and,  1  believe, 
the  French. 

"  The  country  from  Moscow  to  Troitza,   a  distance  of  about 


174  CONVENT  OF  BETHANY— MONKS. 

CHAP,  sixty  versts,  continues  to  be  prettily  enough  diversified  mth  woods 
'^'"'-  and  small  valleys.  Troitza  is  a  small  town  chiefly  remarkable  for 
its  large  convent,  an  immense  building  of  brick  surrounded  by  a 
brick  wall  machicolated  and  furnished  with  loop  holes,  and  flanked 
by  high  circular  towers  also  of  brick.  It  was  founded,  I  believe, 
some  years  before  Boris  Godunof.  During  the  invasion  of  the  Poles, 
it  was  besieged  at  the  same  time  with  Moscow,  but  unsuccessfully ; 
it  was  then  the  repository  of  a  great  part  of  Godunof 's  treasure.  At 
present  it  contains  three  Churches,  one  of  them  very  wealthy  in 
gold,  jewels,  and  rehques,  worth  perhaps  30,000  rubles,  several 
small  Chapels,  a  convent  containing  forty  or  fifty  monks,  and  a 
school  for  the  sons  of  the  clergy,  in  which  about  four  hundred 
young  people  are  educated  for  orders.  They  learn  Latin  and  Greek, 
and  the  cleverest  among  them  are  also  taught  German  and  French. 
Having,  however,  no  great  stimulus  to  their  ambition,  and  no  other 
prospect  before  them  than  a  scanty  and  miserable  pittance  for  life, 
as  the  only  reward  of  their  studies,  few  of  them  are  very  dihgent. 
Paul  formed  a  regiment  of  ten  battahons  from  these  sons  of  the 
clergy  throughout  the  empire ;  and  Plato,  the  archbishop,  confessed 
to  us,  that  from  the  idleness  and  poverty  of  most  of  the  young 
men,  it  was  as  good  a  use  as  they  could  be  put  to.  The  monks  of 
Troitza,  as  well  as  of  all  the  other  convents  in  Russia,  had  their 
lands  and  peasants  very  much  curtailed  by  Peter  the  Fii-st,  and 
entirely  taken  away  by  Catherine.  The  convent  of  Befimia 
(Bethany),  where  Plato  lives,  formerly  possessed  100,000  peasants ; 
at  present  the  monks  receive  pensions  of  from  fifty  to  a  hundred 
rubles  a  head ;  a  sum  barely  sufficient  for  their  maintenance. 
Those  convents  which  have  schools  attached  to  them,  have  allow- 
ances of  servants,  firing,  and  repairs  also  fi-om  the  crown ;  that  of 
Befania  receives  about  10,000  rubles  altogether.  A  Russian  monk 
is  never  allowed  to  eat  flesh,  and  then-  days  of  total  abstinence  are 
very  frequent ;  but  in  other  respects  their  rules  are  not  rigid,  nor 
are  they  very  strictly  observed ;  the  archbishop  himself  has  set  the 
example  of  great  laxness  in  these  particulars.  The  di-ess  of  a  monk 
is  a  long  black  cassock  and  a  loose  gown  with  wide  sleeves,  like  the 

7 


RUSSIAN  CLERGY.  175 

undress  gown  of  a  nobleman  at  Oxford ;  this  is  generally  made  of  chap. 
cloth,  though  the  higher  orders  have  it  of  silk,  with  the  addition  of  '^Q*^ 
a  golden  cross  round  the  neck ;  the  head  is  covered  with  a  liigh 
felt  cap  like  those  of  the  eastern  dervises,  ornamented  with  a  loose 
veil  of  black  stuff.  The  bishops  and  archbishops  have  their  gar- 
ments of  green,  purple,  or  violet ;  their  veils  are  white,  marked 
with  a  red  or  black  cross.  These,  as  well  as  the  archimandrites, 
and  other  liigh  members  of  the  Church,  are  all  monks ;  the  secular 
clergy  can  never  hope  to  rise  above  the  rank  of  parish  priest, 
unless  by  first  taking  the  vows,  which,  indeed,  he  generally  does  if 
he  happens  to  lose  his  ^\ife  ;  it  is  well  kno^vn  that  a  Russian  parish 
priest  must  be  strictly  '  husband  of  one  wife.'  Clerks  and  sextons, 
*  Panomiri'  and  '  Ditchok,'  are  considered  as  ecclesiastical  persons, 
and  promoted  to  the  rank  of  deacons,  and  so  on  to  priests,  &c. 

"  In  the  year  1796  the  clergy,  monastic  and  secular,  were 
computed  at  68,000  souls  ;  with  their  wives  and  children,  200,000. 
In  the  diocese  of  Moscow  are  1500  priests  and  6500  inferior  eccle- 
siastics ;  and  2000  sons  of  priests  are  educating  for  holy  orders  in  se- 
veral convents  and  other  seminaries.  In  the  towns  the  priests  have 
no  other  maintenance  than  what  the  bounty  of  their  congregations 
affords  them,  except  the  fees  on  baptisms,  burials,  &c. ;  yet  some 
of  them  get  a  comfortable  subsistence  in  this  way ;  a  few  as  much 
as  1000  rubles  a  year ;  but  such  instances  are  probably  very  rare ;  we 
only  heard  of  one  on  which  we  could  quite  rely.  Many  live  by  beg- 
ging for  the  shrines  and  tombs  of  particular  saints  ;  and  women  are 
employed  in  almost  every  village  to  solicit  the  charity  of  travellers 
towards  the  maintenance  of  some  Church  or  Chapel.  They  pre- 
sent a  plate  covered  with  a  wliite  cloth  marked  with  a  red  cross, 
and  beg,  as  the  Russians  generally  do,  with  great  humility  and 
modesty.  The  village  priests  have  a  certain  glebe  which  the  land- 
owner is  obliged  to  furnish  ;  and,  by  a  ukase  of  Paul,  he  was  also 
obhged  to  assist  the  priest  in  the  cultiu-e  of  his  land  with  a  few 
peasants,  when  it  was  necessary.  Alexander  has,  however,  re- 
pealed this  law,  of  which  Plato  heavily  complained,  saying  that  the 
nobles,  who  did  nothing  at  all  either  for  themselves  or  the  state, 


176  RUSSIAN  CLERGY. 

CHAP,     were  not  content  to  half-starve  the  clergy,  but  made  them,  in  addi- 
i^o".      tion  to  then-  parochial  duties,   labour  the  ground  with  their  own 
hands  ;  he  said  he  had  remonstrated  with  the  emperor,  but  in  vain. 
Pecuniary  compositions  often  supply  the  place  of  glebe  lands ; 
tithes  were  never  known  in  Russia.     The  ignorance  and  despised 
state  of  the  Russian  clergy,  of  which  we  had  heard  so  much,  we 
found  to  be  partly,  but  not  entirely  true ;  the  schools  which  are 
now  established  for  the  education  of  their  sons,  have  in  a  great 
measure  removed  the  former  reproach.     We  met  at  Troitza  one 
monk  of  very  superior  manners,  with  the  appearance  and  deport- 
ment of  a  person  of  genius,  who  spoke  good  French,    and  said 
he  had  travelled.     Plato  himself,  and  perhaps  most  of  the  higher 
orders,  are  also  well  bred,  and  well-educated  men ;  they  are,  how- 
ever, as  monks,  shut  up  for  the  greater  part  of  their  lives  in  convents. 
We  have  also  found  the  secvdar  clergy,  generally  speaking,  not  en- 
tirely ignorant  of  Latin,  though  but  few  could  converse  hi  it  fluently. 
They  fill  very  nearly  the  same  rank  in  society  that  is  held  by  the 
Roman  Catholic  priests  ;    and,  like  them,  have  much  influence 
among  the  middle  and  lower  classes,  with  whom  they  entirely  asso- 
ciate.    In  the  remoter  provinces  they  seem  more  respected,  and 
fill  a  higher  rank  in  society  than  in  Petersburg  and  Moscow.       At 
Sebastopol  we  met  the  priest,   his  wife,  and  daughter  (neither  of 
them  very  unlike  what  a  country  clergyman's  wife  and  daughter 
might  be  in   any   country,)    at  a  tea  party  of  captain  Messer's, 
who  was   one  of  the  principal  persons    in    the  place ;     and  in 
Kamstchatka  we  find,  in  Cook's  voyages,  the  priest  of  Paratenska 
one  of  the  principal  members  of  the  colony.    In  the  more  elevated 
societies  of  the  capital,  they  never  enter  the  house,  unless  they 
are  professionally  wanted ;  in  which  case  people  send  for  them  as 
they  would  for  any  mechanic.     In  the  more  religious  houses  they 
come  regularly  to  say  mattins,  which  ought  to  be  said  at  four  in 
the  morning,  but  which  generally  takes  place  over-night,  the  priest 
coming  about  eight  or  nine  in  the  evening,  to  repeat  the  prayers 
for  the  next  day.    The  garments  of  a  secular  priest  resemble  those 
of  a  monk,  but  are  of  any  colour  he  pleases  ;  and  instead  of  the 


VISIT  TO  ARCHBISHOP  PLATO.  177 

high  felt  cap,  he  wears  the  usual  hat,  or  fur  bonnet.     All  eccle-     chap. 
siastics  wear  their  beard  and  hair  long,  and  sometimes  curled  and      i^oc. 
frizzled  very  absurdly. 

"  King's  '  Rites  of  the  Greek  Church'  is  a  work,  according  to 
Plato,  not  to  be  depended  on  ;  he  had  excellent  opportunities  for 
information,  but  was  obstinate  and  attached  to  his  own  system. 
Plato  said  '  he  would  not  use  us  fairly  ;  he  would  not  believe  us 
when  we  gave  an  account  of  our  own  faith.'  King  had  hoped  to 
gain  the  empress  Catherine's  favour  by  his  work,  and  affected  to 
go  often  to  court.  She  at  last  sent  him  word  that  *  the  Greek 
Church  needed  not  the  apology  of  a  stranger.' 

"  On  the  5th  of  February  we  hired  a  sanky  to  pay  Plato  a 
visit,  for  whom  we  had  an  introduction  from  prince  Feodore  Nico- 
laitch  Gallitzin.     The  distance  from  Befania  to  Troitza  is  about 
three  versts  through  a  very  beautiful  country.     We  observed  many 
tracks  of  wolves  in  the  fields  we  passed  through,  yet  the  peasant 
said  they  were  not  particularly  mimerous  ;  bears  there  were  none. 
Befania  stands  amid  some  fine  lime  trees  on  the  brink  of  a  steep 
hill  with  a  very  pleasing  view  ;  adjoining  it  is  a  building  raised  by 
Paul  as  an  academy  for  the  sons  of  the  clergy.     The  number  of 
monks  at  Befania  and  Troitza,  for  both  form  a  joint  establishment, 
is  about  sixty ;  the  number  of  students  above  three  hundred  ;  the 
income  appropriated  to  their  support  is  now  reduced  from,  at 
least,    500,000    rubles  a  year  to  10,000.     Plato  himself  has  an 
annual  income  of  8000  rubles.     He  occupies  a  small  suite  of  rooms 
which  forms  one  side  of  the  quadrangle ;  it   consists  of  a  little 
study,  a  sitting-room,  and  a  room  where  he  dines,  which  also  serves 
as  his   bed-room,  his  bed  being  placed   behind  a  screen    in   the 
corner.     Four  or  five    dirty  fellows  like    college-scouts,   dressed 
in  gi'een  coats,  as  being  furnished  to  the  convent  by  government, 
composed  his  sole  establishment.     A  very  neat  Chapel  forms  the 
termination  to  his  apartments.     In  this  he  made  us  remark  that 
no  sculpture  or  relief  was  allowed,  except  on  one  piece  of  plate, 
in  which  he  said  he  had  complied  with   the  prejudices   of  the 
Russians,  who  had,  in  this  respect,  departed  from  the  rules  of  the 
VOL.  I.  A   a 


178  HIS  CONVERSATION. 

CHAP.    Greek  Church.     On  the  mass-book,  which  was  open,  was  laid  the 
i8"6-      letter  of  orders  of  the  priest  who  generally  officiated. 

"  In  the  same  book  was  a  bit  of  what  seemed  to  be  asbestos, 
which  appeared  to  be  a  relic ;  the  archbishop  evidently  did  not 
wish  us  to  see  or  touch  it,  and  changed  the  subject  hastily.  The 
Chapel  of  the  convent,  a  whimsical  brick  building,  which,  without, 
looks  like  a  red  band-box,  stands  in  the  centre  of  the  quadrangle, 
and  is  built  according  to  a  plan  given  by  the  archbishop  himself. 
Within  it  is  of  a  very  singular  construction  ;  the  west  end,  which  is 
semicircular,  is  adorned  with  the  representation  of  a  rock,  which  is 
ascended  by  narrow  winding  stairs  with  a  rustic  rail,  and  painted 
shrubs  and  rocks,  about  half  the  height  of  the  Chapel ;  on  the 
top  of  this  is  a  small  tabernacle  containing  the  Altar,  with 
sufficient  space  for  the  Greek  ceremonies.  Within  this  taber- 
nacle and  on  the  Altar,  the  archbishop  showed  us  a  httle 
cabinet  ornamented  with  some  Scripture  histories  m  enamel, 
which  formerly  belonged  to  Louis  the  Sixteenth,  and  was  pre- 
sented to  Plato  by  the  present  king  of  France.  The  common 
people  of  Russia,  he  told  us,  generally  thought  that  Buonaparte 
had  sent  it  to  him.  The  space  beneath  the  rock  is  occupied  by  a 
small  Chapel,  furnished  with  a  stove  for  winter  devotion ;  and  on 
the  right  hand  is  a  little  narrow  cell  containing  two  coffins,  one  of 
which  is  empty  and  destined  for  the  present  archbishop ;  the  other 
contains  the  bones  of  the  founder  of  the  monastery,  who  is  regarded 
as  a  saint.  The  oak  coffin  was  almost  bit  to  pieces  by  different 
persons  afflicted  with  the  tooth-ache,  for  which  a  rub  on  this  board  is 
considered  a  specific.  Plato  laughed  as  he  told  us  this,  but  said,  '  As 
they  do  it  de  hon  coeur,  I  would  not  undeceive  them.'  This  prelate 
has  been  long  very  famous  in  Russia  as  a  man  of  abihty.  His  piety 
has  been  questioned,  but  fi-om  his  conversation  we  drew  a  very  fa- 
vourable opinion  of  him.  Some  of  his  expressions  would  have  rather 
surpi-ised  a  very  strict  religionist,  but  the  frankness  and  openness  of 
his  manners,  and  the  hberahty  of  his  sentiments  pleased  us  liighly. 
His  frankness  on  subjects  of  pohtics  was  remarkable.  The  clergy 
throughout  Russia,  are,  I  believe,  inimical  to  their  government ; 


HOMILIES.  179 

they  are  more  connected  with  the  peasants  than  most  other  classes  chap. 
of  men,  and  are  strongly  interested  in  then"  sufferings  and  oppres-  isoc- 
sions,  to  many  of  which  they  themselves  are  likewise  exposed.  They 
marry  very  much  among  the  daughters  and  sisters  of  then*  own 
order,  and  form  almost  a  caste.  I  think  Buonaparte  is  rather  popular 
among  them.  Plato  seemed  to  contemplate  his  success  as  an 
ine\dtable  and  not  very  alarming  prospect.  He  refused  to  draw  up 
a  form  of  prayer  for  the  success  of  the  Russian  arms  :  'if/  said  he, 
*  they  be  really  penitent  and  contrite,  let  them  shut  up  their  public 
places  of  amusement  for  a  month,  and  I  will  then  celebrate  public 
prayers.'  His  expressions  of  dislike  to  the  nobles  and  wealthy 
classes  were  strong  and  singular,  as  well  as  the  manner  in  which  he 
described  the  power  of  an  emperor  of  Russia,  the  dangers  which 
surround  him,  and  the  improbabihty  of  any  rapid  improvement.  '  It 
would  be  much  better,'  said  he,  '  had  we  a  constitution  like  that 
of  England.'  Yet  I  suspect  he  does  not  wish  particularly  well  to 
us  in  our  war  wath  France.  He  is  a  man  of  sixty-nine  years  of  age, 
with  a  good  open  countenance  and  remarkably  fine  teeth  ;  his  hah* 
and  beard  are  very  white  and  thick ;  his  eyes  hght  blue  and  very 
sparkling  and  lively  ;  his  manners  simple,  frank,  and  friendly  ;  and 
his  conversation  that  of  a  man  of  much  general  and  classical  reading. 
The  room  in  which  he  was  sitting  was  decorated  with  several  bad 
pictures,  and  little  rehgious  ornaments  and  rarities,  the  greater 
part  of  them,  apparently,  presents  fiom  people  of  the  lower 
orders,  which  proved  his  good  nature,  with  a  httle  mixture  of  an  old 
man's  vanity.  Of  his  history  we  learned  but  httle.  He  had  been 
once  in  great  favotu-  with  Catherine,  whose  confessor  he  was,  but 
had  afterwards  been  sent  away  from  court  where  he  was  rehgious 
instructor  to  the  grand  dukes  Alexander  and  Constantino.  His 
brother  was,  with  many  other  young  men  intended  for  orders,  sent 
over  to  England  and  was  educated  at  Oxford;  an  experiment 
which  has  not,  iipparently,  answered ;  he  is  only  a  secular  priest, 
so  that  he  has  had  no  opportimity  of  rising.  We  heard  great 
praises  of  Plato's  homilies,  which  the  empress  caused  to  be  read  on 
particular  occasions  in  all  Churches.  He  was  the  first  person  who 
introduced  a  habit  of  preaching  into  the  Russ  Churches,  though 

A  a  2 


180  ROSTOF— MADAME  VASSILCHIKOF. 


CHAP,  even  now  tliey  do  not  preach  regularly  except  in  Cathedral 
1806.  Churches ;  the  sermons  are  always  read.  Plato's  catechism  for  the 
grand  dukes  is  famous  for  its  liberality,  but  his  celebrated  coro- 
nation sermon  is  but  a  poor  composition ;  the  text  is  very  curious, 
being  "  And  the  Almighty  permitted  us  to  see  our  emperor 
crowned."  I  certainly  do  not  know  from  what  chapter  it  is  taken. 
He  has  lately  published  a  Church  history  which  is  said  to  be  only 
calculated  for  the  Russians '. 

"  About  the  period  of  the  French  revolution,  Plato  was 
instrumental,  we  were  told,  in  forming  at  Moscow  a  society  called 
the  Christian  free-masons,  on  a  very  wide  and  extended  plan,  by 
which  all  sects  of  Christians  were  allowed  to  become  members. 
Their  meetings  were  secret ;  large  subscriptions  were  raised,  and 
vast  quantities  of  books  purchased  for  what  was  called  the  use  of 
the  society ;  their  numbers  were  very  great.  We  did  not  learn 
much  about  this  association,  but  I  could  not  help  being  struck 
with  the  resemblance  between  this  and  the  Weishauphian  scheme 
in  Bavaria.  I  am,  however,  inclined  to  judge  favourably  of  Plato's 
intentions.  The  times  and  circumstances  rendered  all  such  bodies 
so  obnoxious  that  no  one  can  wonder  that  this  was  soon  suppressed 
by  the  government.     It  perhaps  contributed  to  Plato's  disgrace. 

"  On  leaving  Plato  we  found,  at  the  first  post-house,  the 
use  of  a  circular  letter  given  us  by  the  governor  of  Moscow,  in 
keeping  the  postilions  in  order.  The  country,  through  which  we 
travelled  was  remarkable  for  the  number  of  large  Churches  and 
convents. 

"  Feb.  Qth. — Towards  evening  we  arrived  at  Rostof,  a  consi- 
derable and  well-built  town,  with  a  Cathedral  and  some  fine  monas- 
teries ;  there  are  several  good  houses  in  the  town,  and  one  eating- 
house,  but  no  place  where  a  bed  can  be  conveniently  got.  We 
had  letters  of  introduction  to  Madame  Vassilchikof,  and  went  to  call 
on  her ;  she  is  a  woman  whose  history  is  singular ;  daughter  of 
prince  Razamofsky,  the  lasthetman  of  the  Cossaks,  she  was  married 
very  young,  against  her  consent,  to  general  Vassilchikof;    themar- 

'  This  work  has  since  been  translated  into  English  from  the  Slavonian,  by   Dr.  Robert 
Pinkerton,  and  printed  at  Edinburgh,  anno  1814. —  Ed. 


Y.AJIOSLAV.  181 

riage  was,  of  course,  an  unhappy  one.      *  *  *  *    chap. 

******  She  had  several      '"""• 

children,  one  of  whom  is  married  to  Count  Kotchubey,  the  present 
minister  for  the  interior.  At  length,  at  the  age  of  forty-five,  she 
left  her  family,  retired  from  the  world,  and  professed  herself  a 
nun.  She  now  lives  as  a  novice  in  a  convent  at  Rostof,  as  by  the 
Russian  law  she  cannot  take  the  vows  before  fifty.  Her  husband 
has  often  begged  her  to  return  to  him,  but  she  refuses ;  her 
conduct  is  by  some  attributed  to  madness,  by  others  to  penitence. 
We  found  her  at  tea  with  her  father  confessor,  and  the  archiman- 
drite of  the  neighbouring  convent  of  St.  Dmitri  (Demetrius)  a  fine 
building,  erected  at  the  ex])ence  of  the  Sheremetof  family.  The 
dress  of  a  nun  differs  little  from  that  of  a  monk  ;  their  rule  is  not 
very  strict,  and  they  are  allowed  to  receive  and  pay  visits. 

"  Feb.  Ith. — Late  at  night  we  arrived  at  Yaroslav,  and  with 
much  difficulty  procured  a  lodging  in  a  wretched  carrier's  inn, 
where  we  slept  on  the  ground  amid  every  species  of  misery  and 
annoyance.  In  the  morning  we  found  an  ordinary  where  we  got 
some  tea,  and  afterwards  succeeded  in  hiring  a  miserable  lodging 
at  two  rubles  a  night.  Yaroslav  is  a  large  and  ancient  town,  and 
one  of  the  most  famous  in  Russian  history  ;  the  coins  of  Yaroslav, 
its  founder,  the  grandson  of  Ruric,  having  on  one  side,  his  head, 
and  on  the  reverse  a  horseman  with  the  motto  o  ayioQ  Tewpyioe, 
we  saw  in  Count  Pouschkin's  collection  at  Moscow.  They  are 
very  scarce,  and  evidently  of  Grecian  workmanship,  Russia  being 
at  that  time  too  barbarous  for  such  a  production.  Yaroslav  was 
besieged  and  taken  by  the  Tartars  under  Baty  Khan  ;  its  suzerains 
were  frequently  independent  of  the  Veliki  Knoes,  whose  authority 
was  very  imperfectly  recognized  till  the  time  of  Ivan  the  Fkst. 
The  town  still  preserves  the  marks  of  ancient  grandeur  in  the 
remaining  ruins  of  its  high  walls  with  many  brick  towers,  and 
several  very  ancient  Churches.  It  is  the  residence  of  an  arch- 
bishop, to  whom  I  was  introduced,  and  may  contain  about  20,000 
inhabitants  ;  the  space  of  ground  it  occupies  is  very  dispropor- 
tionate to  its  real  dimensions,  being  built  with  immensely  wide 


18-2  MANUFACTURES. 

CHAP,    streets  and  many  vacant  spaces.     There  are  two  very  large  squares, 
1800.      one  of  which,  the  market-place,  is  surrounded  with  arcades,  and 
was  when  we  saw  it,  filled  by  a  vast  crowd  of  people,  as  a  Russian 
market-place  generally  is,  even  in  the  least  populous  parts  of  the 
covmtry ;  in  the  other  are  some  handsome  government  buildings* 
which  were  begun  by  Paul,  but  never  completed  on  account  of  the 
expense.  The  town  stands  on  the  point  where  the  river  Kotroso  falls 
into  the  Volga,  which,  notwithstanding  its  vast  distance  from  the  sea, 
is  here  a  magnificent  river,  broader  than  the  Thames  at  Chelsea. 
There  are  some  very  considerable  manufactories  in  it,  one  of  silk, 
and  two  large  ones  of  linen,  particularly  of  Russia  duck '  and  table 
cloths.    The  principal  one  belonging  to  Mr.  JacoflefF,  consists  of  a 
large  square  of  low  white  buildings,  adorned  with  walks  bordered 
with  rows  of  willows.     There  is  also  a  handsome  Church  in  the 
Dutch  style,  which  the  common  people  object  to,  as  not  being 
conformed  to  the  ancient  models  of  the  country. 

"  Mr.  Jacofleff  carries  on  a  very  great  commerce  with  England ; 
in  this  and  liis  adjoining  paper  fabric,  he  employs  three  thousand 
hands,  but  we  could  not  learn  to  whom  the  majority  of  the  peasants 
in  the  town  belonged.    They  appeared  healthy  and  clean.    The  flax 
is  purchased  ready  spun  of  the  peasants  ;  from  their  spindles  it  is 
wound  on  reels,  to  form  the  warp.  If  the  stuff  is  to  be  striped  length- 
ways, the  skeins,  which  are  to  be  dyed,  are  taken  to  the  dye-house, 
and  brought  back  to  the  weaving-rooms  when  ready  :  if  the  stuff  is 
to  be  clouded,  as  some  sailors'  trousers  are,  these  skeins  are  partially 
dyed  at  fixed  intervals  :  in  checked  stuffs  the  woof  is  dyed  in  the 
same  manner  as  the  warp.     The  red  colour  is  derived  from  a  grass 
very  common  in  the  country,  called  serpooka  ;  the  other  dyes  are 
cliiefly  West  Indian.     The  patterns  for  damask  table-cloths  are 
divided  into  squares,  and  each  square  into  a  huncbed  sub-divisions  ; 
the  warp  is  then  put  in  a  vertical  position,   and  its  threads  are 
divided  into  tens.    A  boy  passes  a  white  thread  under  those  tlu'eads 
which  are  dark  in  the  pattern,  according  to  the  direction  of  a  man 

'  A  corruption  of  the  German  word  Tucl:,  cloth. — Ed. 


MANUFACTURES.  183 

who  coimts  the  hght  and  dark  sqviares,  repeating  them  aloud  vnih  chap. 
Avonderful  quickness  and  precision.  This  operation  is  much  sim-  ^^^- 
phfled  by  all  the  sub-divisions  being  decimals.  When  the  warp  is 
placed  in  the  loom,  a  boy  takes  up,  in  regular  order,  the  ends  of 
each  thread  which  has  been  so  passed,  and  lifts  them  up  at  each 
stroke  of  the  shuttle.  The  greatest  width  of  their  figured-cloths 
is  six  arsheens,  about  fourteen  feet ;  these  require  two  weavers, 
one  of  whom  sits  at  each  end  of  the  loom  ;  and  in  this  case  there 
are  two  boys  to  lift  up  the  threads  in  the  way  I  have  mentioned; 
the  price  of  a  damask  table-cloth,  five  feet  long  and  six  wide,  is 
eleven  rubles ;  the  produce  of  the  fabric  is  averaged  at  500,000 
rubles ;  it  is  carried  to  Petersburg  for  sale  both  in  summer  and 
Avinter. 

"  The  mangle  in  this  manufactory  was  carried  by  a  horse- 
wheel,  in  which  the  horse  remained  stationary,  and  the  wood 
work  was  turned  round  by  the  pressure  of  his  feet ;  the  weight 
thus  put  in  motion  amounts  to  1,350  pood,  above  twenty-one 
tons.  In  the  Smollberg  fabric  belonging  to  M.  Uglichinivi,  seven 
hundi'ed  hands  are  employed ;  they  are  most  of  them  peasants 
attached  to  the  fabric,  and  not  allowed  to  be  separated  from  it. 
Flems  are  sold  m  pieces  of  fifty  arsheens  long  and  one  and  a  half 
wide ;  ravenducks  only  differ  in  being  coarser ;  these  last  are  used 
for  the  top-sails  of  ships  and  for  tents.  Crash  is  made  of  the  refuse 
flax,  and  used  as  outside  covers  to  their  bales.  Calimancoes  are 
made  here  of  flax ;  they  differ  from  flems  in  weaving,  in  that  there 
are  five  pedals  to  the  loom  instead  of  two  ;  so  that  the  thread  of  the 
woof  does  not  go  above  and  below  the  threads  of  the  warp  alter- 
nately, but  a  fifth-part  of  the  woof  threads  are  lifted  up  at  a  time, 
instead  of  one  half  as  in  the  common  weaving. 

"  The  silk  fabric  is  not  very  considerable ;  there  is  but  little 
machinery,  and  no  spun  silk  ;  the  o^^^ler  told  Thornton  that  the 
Russian  peasants  were  too  dirty  for  this  work  ;  but  the  people  of 
Yaroslav  boast  much  of  the  superior  beauty  and  stature  of  their 
peasantry. 

"  While  at  Yaroslav  I  had  an  opportmiity  of  seeing  the  ordina- 


184  GREEK  ORDINATION  SERVICE. 

CHAP,  tion  of  a  priest.  The  candidate  was  introduced  between  two  priests 
^^°"-  to  the  royal  gate  before  the  Altar,  where  he  was  met  by  the  bishop. 
After  much  praying  and  singing,  a  white  cloth  was  thrown  over  his 
head  and  face,  which  was  agitated  up  and  down  to  imitate  the  flut- 
tering of  a  dove.  He  was  then  led  several  times  round  the  altar  in 
procession,  the  choir  singing  a^iog,  a^iog,  several  times  repeated ; 
he  was  then  clothed  in  sacerdotal  garments,  the  bishop  and  priests 
laid  their  hands  on  his  head,  and  then  embraced  him  by  turns  as  a 
new  brother.  The  archbishop  afterwards  administered  the  com- 
munion, of  Nvhich  many  of  the  congregation  partook.  When  this 
ceremony  was  concluded,  a  great  number  of  persons  flocked  to  kiss 
his  hands,  and  the  Avhole  service  concluded  with  a  sermon,  in  the 
middle  of  which  the  preacher  broke  off,  and  went  to  kneel  and 
kiss  the  hand  of  the  archbishop,  who  sat  in  a  chair  before  the  steps 
of  the  altar.  The  archbishop  was  a  gentlemanlike  man,  but  looked 
very  sickly.  We  afterwards  called  on  him,  and  fovmd  him  much 
better  lodged  than  Plato ;  he  conversed  in  very  tolerable  French 
and  Latin.  He  and  all  the  inhabitants  of  Yaroslav  have  an  idea 
that '  the  great'  Mr.  Pitt  paid  them  a  visit  about  twenty  years  since. 
The  archbishop  maintained  that  he  had  himself  done  the  honovu-s 
of  the  place  to  him.  In  such  remote  countries  similar  mistakes,  or 
perhaps  wilful  impostures  are  not  vuicommon.  The  prince  and 
princess  Michael  Gallitzin,  told  us  they  had  had  an  Irish  peer  as 
tutor  to  their  children  ;  his  name  they  had  forgotten,  but  said  he 
was  a  very  clever  fellow.  To  this  prince,  the  governor  of  Yaroslav, 
as  well  as  to  his  family,  we  are  under  much  obligation  for  their 
kindness  and  hospitality  ;  he  is  a  very  pleasing  man,  and  his  wife 
remarkably  amiable.  If  the  house  they  inhabited  was  a  specimen 
of  most  country  houses,  they  are  indeed  very  miserable ;  it  was 
tolerably  large,  but  cold,  ruinous,  and  unfurnished ;  yet  we  have 
passed  in  it  many  pleasant  moments. 

"  There  is  a  moderately  good  society  of  noblesse  in  and  near 
Yaroslav.  We  went  to  two  or  three  balls,  one  of  them  masked,  at 
which  were  present  about  three  hundred  persons ;  many  of  them 
were,  however,  bourgeois,  who,  though  they  are  admitted  to  the 


WOLF  HUNT.  185 

balls,  are  not  allowed  to  dance.  These  assemblies  are  held  in  chap. 
a  large  room  belonging  to  the  orphan-school,  a  splendid  public  t^^- 
charity,  maintained  by  the  voluntary  contributions  of  the  town 
and  province.  Goverimient  gives  nothing  for  its  support.  Some 
of  the  children  who  are  educated  in  it  belong  to  the  poor  gentle- 
men of  the  province,  and  are  lodged  separately.  They  all  wear  a 
uniform  of  green,  and  both  girls  and  boys  are  very  well  clothed, 
fed,  and  taught.  The  rites  of  the  Greek  Church  are  regularly  per- 
formed in  a  small  Chapel,  morning  and  evening,  and  the  chilch-en 
read  by  turns  a  chapter  in  the  Slavonic  Bible ;  they  sing  very  pleas- 
ingly. There  is  a  large  academy  in  the  town,  with  German  pro- 
fessors, who  are  liberally  paid ;  one  of  them  receives  more  than  the 
governor  of  a  province,  who,  however,  has  only  £500  a  year. 

"  In  the  province  of  Yaroslav  there  are  some  considerable 
oak-woods,  and  we  found  government  agents  in  the  town  employed 
to  buy  timber  and  other  naval  stores.  One  of  these,  a  Captain 
*  *  *  was  then  under  a  cloud,  having  been  accused  of  embez- 
zlement. He  had  been  in  England  and  spoke  English  well.  He 
was  a  very  robust  man,  who  never  wore  gloves  or  any  thing  but 
cotton  stockings  in  the  severest  weather,  and  never  tasted  any  thing 
stronger  than  small  beer. 

"  I  had  almost  forgotten  to  mention  that  while  we  were 
here  we  witnessed  a  wolf-hunt  on  the  Volga.  Mr.  Yaroslav, 
the  gentleman  who  gave  the  party,  showed  us  four  wolves  which 
he  had  caught  some  days  before,  and  kept  in  a  stable  to  be 
turned  out  as  they  were  wanted ;  they  were  all  lying  in  a  heap 
together,  and  showed  great  signs  of  fear  and  wildness  on  our 
approach.  There  were  also  several  foxes  kept  in  the  same  way. 
On  the  day  fixed  for  the  hunt  the  largest  of  the  wolves  was  pro- 
duced, his  mouth  confined  by  a  cord  with  a  running  noose ;  they 
put  him  into  a  sort  of  box  on  wheels  containing  one  large  and  two 
smaller  chambers;  the  former  was  occupied  by  the  wolf;  one  of 
the  latter  held  a  fox  and  the  other  two  hares.  The  box  was 
then  drawn  by  a  horse  down  to  the  river  which  was  already  covered 
VOL.  I.  B   b 


186  WOLF  HUNT. 


CHAP,    with  spectators.     There  is  on  this  river,  as  at  Moscow  and  Peters- 


V- 


1806.  burg,  a  space  railed  off  on  the  ice  for  sledge-racing,  an  amusement 
of  which  the  Russians  are  very  fond,  though  they  never  make  bets. 
The  hares  were  first  let  out  one  after  the  other,  and  pursued  by 
four  great  Siberian  greyhounds,  who  however  ran  very  ill.  The 
wolf  was  then  produced  and  unmuzzled ;  two  stout  fellows  took 
him,  one  by  the  ears  the  other  by  the  flanks,  and  carried  him  to 
some  yards  distance  where  they  set  him  do^vn  on  the  ice.  He 
looked  round  him  for  a  moment  and  then  set  off  as  fast  as  he 
could.  The  snow,  however,  was  deep,  and  the  dogs,  though  they 
were  also  greatly  inconvenienced  by  it,  were  too  near,  and  soon 
came  up  with  him,  while  two  chasseurs  on  horseback  rode  round 
and  headed  him,  very  unfairly  flogging  him  with  their  heavy  Cossak 
whips.  He  now  turned  roimd  on  the  dogs,  bit  one  severely,  and 
put  the  rest  on  their  guard  ;  they  no  longer  came  so  near  him,  but 
contented  themselves  with  baying  round  him.  One  of  the  hunts- 
men dismounted  and  began  flogging  him ;  on  which  he  turned 
round  sharp,  made  a  snap  at  his  hand  and  again  set  off  running,  in 
which  by  his  superior  strength  he  would  soon  have  tired  the  dogs, 
had  not  the  chasseurs  checked  him ;  again,  however,  he  put  his 
enemies  to  the  rout,  and  would  have  escaped  but  for  the  chasseurs 
who  continued  the  chase,  though  the  dogs  were  quite  knocked  up 
and  cowed.  When  the  speed  of  the  horses  and  the  heavy  blows  of 
the  whip  had  tired  and  half-blinded  him,  the  running  noose  was 
again  slipped  over  his  jaws,  and  he  was  lifted  into  a  sanky  and 
carried  home  for  another  day's  torment.  The  Siberian  greyhound 
is  a  very  beautiful  creature  with  silky  hair  and  a  fan  tail ;  they  are 
not  so  swift  as  our  greyhounds,  but  are  said  to  be  more  hardy. 

"  The  population  of  the  government  of  Yaroslav  is  950,000  ; 
in  Paufs  reign  many  English  were  sent  there,  as  none  were  alloAved 
to  remain  on  the  coast.  Prince  Alexander  Obolensky,  who  served 
in  the  detachment  which  was  charged  with  tliis  duty,  said  they 
were  reduced  to  great  misery ;  many  were  plundered  by  the 
soldiers ;  and  being  unable  to  speak  either  Russian  or  French,  had 
no  means  of  making  their  complaints  known  to  the  officers,  or  of 


KOSTROMA.  187 


expressing  their  wants.     Those  who  were  sent  to  the   town   of    chap. 
Yaroslav,  received,   we  were  told,  much  kindness  from  Captain      isdo. 
Tchirna\in. 

"  From  Yaroslav  to  Kostroma  is  a  distance  of  sixty  versts ; 
the  country  is  fertile,  with  many  small  lime  woods  and  some 
oaks.  Kostroma  is  a  much  smaller  town  than  Yaroslav,  and 
contains  only  8,000  inhabitants ;  it  is  ancient  and  celebrated  in 
history.  The  first  czar  of  the  house  of  Romanof  was  taken  a  child 
from  the  monastery  in  this  town,  where  his  father  Feodor  had  con- 
cealed him  and  his  mother  during  the  invasion  of  the  Poles. 
Feodor  Romanof,  though  connected  with  the  blood  royal,  had 
tm-ned  monk,  and  persuaded  his  wife  to  embrace  a  religious  life. 
During  the  troubles  of  Russia  his  wife  and  his  infant  son  Michael  lay 
hid  in  the  remote  convent  of  Kostroma.  He  had  become  patriarch 
of  Russia,  and  was  entreated  by  the  nobles  to  assume  the  crown, 
which,  on  his  refusal,  they  bestowed  on  his  son.  The  chair  in 
which  the  wife  of  Feodor  and  her  son  Michael  sat  when  the  hoijars 
came  to  make  the  offer,  is  still  preserved  in  the  great  Church  of 
Kostroma.  Boris  Godunof,  who  neglected  nothing,  had  cultivated 
the  regards  of  this  monastic  society,  and  we  were  shown  several 
costly  presents  which  he  had  made  it.  The  proto-pope  Jacob, 
from  whom  we  received  this  information,  speaks  good  Latin,  and 
is  a  sensible  well-informed  man.  Kostroma  is  an  episcopal  see ; 
we  did  not  see  the  bishop,  but  we  heard  a  favourable  account  of 
his  talents  and  character ;  his  convent,  as  well  as  the  Church 
where  Michael  received  the  boyars,  is  separated  from  the  town 
by  some  meadows,  and  a  small  river  which  flows  into  the  Volga. 
The  town  itself  stands  on  a  high  promontory,  with  the  Volga,  a 
noble  expanse  of  water,  flowing  at  its  foot ;  the  opposite  side  is 
high  and  woody.  The  government-house  stands  on  the  highest 
point,  and  not  far  from  it  are  two  large  Churches  and  an  extensive 
square,  surrounded  with  piazzas  and  shops,  of  which,  however,  only 
one  side  is  yet  finished ;  at  one  end  of  the  square  is  a  well  built 
uniform  street,  entirely  raised  by  Mr.  Turigin,  who  received  us  into 
his  house. 

B  b  2 


188  PRISON— ORPHAN  HOUSE. 


CHAP.  "  The  prison  is  a  small  and  wretched  hovel,  full  of  fugitive  slaves, 

180C.  mostly  in  heavy  irons  ;  some  of  them  were  employed  by  government, 
but  the  rest  were  idle.  Of  these  wretches  there  were  no  fewer 
than  three  hundred,  very  dirty  and  much  crowded,  though  their 
food  was  clean  and  wholesome ;  the  heavy  chains  were  rendered 
necessary  from  the  house  being  built  only  of  wood  and  very  ill 
guarded. 

"  From  the  prison  we  went  to  the  orphan-house ;  such  hospi- 
tals are  established  in  every  great  town  in  Russia,  and  are  generally 
well  kept  up ;  this  was  a  small,  but  tolerably  clean  cottage,  con- 
taining seventy-three  children.  Vaccination  had  not  yet  been  tried. 
Almost  adjoining  is  a  sort  of  workhouse,  where,  though  the  rooms 
were  clean,  different  kinds  of  vice  and  misery  were  stowed  together 
with  very  little  distinction.  In  one  room  were  four  madmen,  who 
were,  however,  apparently  harmless,  but  very  ill  clad,  and  shivering 
with  cold.  In  another  part  of  the  town  is  a  small  but  neat  hospital, 
which  was  then  merely  occupied  by  two  or  three  women ;  and  also 
an  alms-house,  where  about  twenty  old  soldiers,  and  fourteen  or 
fifteen  old  women,  the  w^idows  of  soldiers,  are  maintained.  The 
allowance  to  each  individual  is,  I  think,  not  more  than  five  rubles  a 
year  from  government ;  but  private  charity  supplies  the  deficiency. 
The  old  men,  with  long  snow- white  beards,  half  blind,  and  with  every 
mark  of  age  and  infirmity,  were  a  very  moving  sight.  These  insti- 
tutions appear  trifling ;  but  it  must  be  considered  that  they  are  sup- 
ported, almost  entirely,  by  the  voluntary  contributions  of  a  small 
and  not  a  wealthy  town.  Separated  from  the  town  by  a  pictu- 
resque valley  is  a  suburb,  inhabited  by  about  a  hundred  Tartar 
families,  with  a  small  neat  mosque,  part  of  the  remnant  of  the  an- 
eent  kingdom  of  Casan.  A  little  further,  and  in  the  neighbour- 
hood of  Nishne  Novogorod,  a  large  proportion  of  the  population  is 
Tartar  and  Mahomedan. 

"  The  manufactures  of  Kostroma  resemble  those  of  Yaroslav, 
but  are  not  so  considerable ;  the  principal  are  those  of  Mr.  Turigin, 
to  whose  hospitality  we  were  greatly  obliged ;  we  also  received 
much  kindness  from  the  governor,   Mr.  Kotchelof      The  inns  in 


RETURN  TO  MOSCOW.  189 

the  town  are  ten  times  worse  than  even  those  at  Yaroslav,  and  the     chap. 
society  is  not  so  numerous  as  at  the  latter  jjlace.     There  is  an      isde. 
academy  similar  to  that  at  Yaroslav,  where  Thornton  heard  about 
thirty  boys  examined,  who  really  did  credit  to  themselves  and  their 
teachers. 

"  While  we  were  at  Kostroma  we  saw  a  rehgious  ceremony 
performed,  m  commemoration  of  the  Empress  Anne,  and  for  tlie 
repose  of  her  soul.  The  only  remarkable  part  of  the  servnce  was 
that  a  saucer  of  rice,  mingled  with  vdne,  was  set  on  a  small  table 
surrounded  ^\^th  candles,  each  of  the  officiating  priests  standing 
round  with  a  fartliing  taper  in  his  hand. 

"  On  our  return  to  Moscow  we  slept  again  at  Yaroslav ;  in 
this  our  second  Aisit  nothing  particular  occurred,  except  that  we 
went  to  see  a  Russ  comedy  acted  by  Colonel  VaUiaclief,  the  master 
of  police,  and  several  gentlemen  and  ladies  of  the  neighbourhood, 
in  a  private  theatre  at  the  house  of  Prince  Gallitzin.  The  subject 
of  the  play  was  a  young  peasant  being  sent  as  a  recruit ; — though 
we  could  not  oiu-selves  understand  it,  we  observed  that  some  of  the 
audience  were  often  much  affected ;  Colonel  Valliachef  acted  the 
old  man  remarkably  well ;  he  is  liimself  an  author,  and  gave 
Thornton  a  volume  of  poems  entitled  AINPA.  Between  Yaroslav 
and  Moscow  we  found  every  town  full  of  preparations  for  the 
approachuig  carnival. 


CHAPTER  VI. 


MOSCOW  TO   TAGANROG. 


Preparations  for  journey— Change  of  weather— Beath  of  Mr.  Pitt— Count  Alexis 
Orlof— Ornaments  of  the  Russian  ladies — Armenian  merchants— Lazarof— Re- 
gret at  leaving  Moscoiv  — Retrospection— Extortions  of  post-masters  —  Snow- 
storm—Serpouchof— Peasants' houses— Tula— Arsenal— Manufactures— Orel— 
Koursk  —Bielgorod—  Charkof—  Cossaks—  University  of  Charkof—Donetz 
ferry— Bakmuth—Steppes—Ivanovna— Suslik— Nogay  Tartars— Taganrog- 
Trade— Fishery— History  of  Taganrog— Quarantine — Society— Madame  Cash- 
parof— Scotch  missionaries — Eve  of  Palm  Sunday. 


"  To  Mrs.  Heber. 

Moscow,  March  3,  180G. 

"  My  Dear  Mother, 
CHAP.  "  Thornton   has  just  received  a  letter    from   his 

^'""'-  father,  the  result  of  a  conversation  with  my  brother  ;  this  gives  us 
a  carte  blanche  with  regard  to  our  future  progress ;  this  will,  how- 
ever, continue  as  I  stated  it  in  my  last  letter  to  my  brother  from 
hence.  To  give  up  the  idea  of  visiting  Greece  under  the  pre- 
sent view  of  thmgs,  is,  I  believe,  most  advisable ;  and  the  sacrifice 
will  be  made  up  by  our  speedier  return  home,  and  the  means  of 
instruction  afforded  by  a  visit  to  Viemia  and  Austria.  Other  ac- 
counts which  we  have  received  entu*ely  confirm  Stuart's  advice, 
of  the  accuracy  of  which,  indeed,  no  reasonable  doubt  could  be 
entertained.  Should,  however,  any  change  of  chcumstances  take 
place,  we  shall  have  certain  and  immediate  information  at  Odessa, 
which  we  mean  to  take  in  our  way,  and  where  we  shall  probably 


PREPARATIONS  FOR  JOURNEY.  191 

pass  some  days ;  from  thence  we  may  bend  our  com-se  either  to-    chap. 

1806. 


wards  Prussian  or  Austrian  Poland.  Thornton  is  now  busily  em- 
ployed in  hunting  out  a  convenient  travelling-carriage ;  and  we 
hope  to  quit  this  city  on  Monday  next.  Our  stay  here  has  been 
much  longer  than  we  either  expected  or  desired;  but  it  was 
absolutely  necessary  to  wait  for  the  decision  of  our  friends  ;  and  I 
do  not  think  we  could  have  found  a  fitter  residence  for  a  Russian 
winter. 

"  From  the  round  of  visits  and  balls  which  I  mentioned  in 
my  last,  the  beginning  of  Lent  has  given  us  some  respite  ;  and  we 
have  been  employing  this  leisure  in  a  close  application  to  German, 
a  knowledge  of  which  is  a  sine  qua  non  to  our  schemes.  The 
weather  is  ah'eady  beginning  to  change  ;  and  farther  south,  every 
thing,  we  are  told,  is  green  and  flowery,  which  not  a  Uttle  increases 
our  eagerness  to  be  gone.  On  Monday,  then,  '  twenty  adieus,  my 
frozen  Moscovites,'  (though  their  climate  is  the  only  thing  that  we 
have  found  frozen  about  them,  and  that  has  been,  generally 
speaking,  very  tolerable).  Our  first  push  is  for  Tcherkask,  the 
capital  of  the  Cossaks,  where  we  hope  to  arrive  in  a  fortnight ;  we 
shall  then  run  through  the  Crimea  to  Odessa,  and  by  Kamirici 
and  Lemberg,  to  Vienna,  where  we  shall  arrive  by  the  first  of 
June.  The  detour  of  the  Crimea  we  are  induced  to  take  as  a  sort 
of  substitute  for  Greece  and  Italy;  and  in  this  country  travelling  is 
so  rapid  that  a  small  increase  of  distance  would  not  induce  or  even 
justify  us  in  relinquishing  one  of  the  most  beautiful  and  interesting 
countries  in  the  world,  and  where  we  need  apprehend  neither 
plague,  nor  French,  nor  banditti.  There  is  likewise  this  advantage 
in  our  getting  to  Vienna  a  month  later,  that  we  allow  full  time  for 
the  Austrian  territories  to  get  tranquillized,  and  shall  be  at  Odessa 
in  the  best  possible  situation  for  getting  advice  and  intelligence. 
Compare  this  with  our  immediate  return  through  the  sands  of 
Poland  and  Brandenburg,  and  I  am  sure  you  will  not  wonder  at 
our  choice,  especially  as  we  shall  be  in  England,  at  the  latest,  by 
the  beginning  of  October,  having  completed  the  tour  of  the 
northern  and  midland  parts  of  Europe.     By  your  last  letter  I  fear 


192  DEATH  OF  MR.  PITT, 


ciiAP.    that  some  of  my  own  have  miscarried,  a  circumstance  which  often 
>«06.      happens  in  the  posts  of  this  country.     Direct  to  me  at  Vienna  as 
at  Stockhohn,  2^oste  restante,  and  put  no  pohtics  in  the  letter. 

"  Poor  Pitt !     We  have  just  received  the  news  of  his  death, 
which  has  caused  great  sorrow  to  the  Enghsh  and  the  friends  of 
England,  who  are  here  very  numerous,  especially  among  the  old 
ministers  of  Catherine,  the  Orlofs,  the  Ostermans,  &c.     At  Count 
Osterman's  house  we  are  intimate,  and  dine  there  once  or  twice  in 
a  week  ;  he  is  a  very  fine  interesting  old  man.     Count  Alexis  Orlof 
we  have  also  been  presented  to,  and  have  been  at  his  ball;  but  un- 
fortunately he  does  not  speak  French,  and  we  are  too  weak  in  Itahan 
and  German  to  venture  on  conversation.     As  an  object  to  look  at  he 
is  one  of  the  most  interesting  and  venerable  I  ever  saw ;  immensely 
tall,  but  a  good  deal  bent  by  age,  with  a  striking  countenance,  and 
long  grey  hair  hanging  about  his  face  and  shoulders.     His  daughter, 
a  pleasing  but  not  beautiful  girl  of  about  eighteen,  who  sings,  plays, 
dances,  rides,  hunts,  speaks  French,   English,   and  German,  all  to 
perfection,  is,  for  these  accomplishments,  as  well  as  for  the  addi- 
tional one  of  being  heiress  to  about  400,000  rubles  a  year,  the 
'  cynosiu'e  of  Russian  eyes.'      Her  father,  hke  the  other  Russian 
nobles,   keeps  a  most  immense  establishment,  having  a  family  of 
about  five  hundred  persons,   and  at  least  two  or  tlu-ee  hundred 
horses.       Indeed,  the    eastern  retinues  and  luxuries   wliich  one 
meets  with  here  are  almost  beyond  belief     There  are  few  English 
countesses  have  so  many  pearls  in  their  possession  as  I  have  seen 
in  the  streets  in  the  cap  of  a  merchant's  wife.     At  a  ball  in  the 
ancient  costume  which  was  given  by  M.  Nelidensky  (secretary  of 
state  to  the  late  empress,  whose  family  we  have  found  the  most 
agreeable  in  Moscow),  the  ladies  all  wore  caps  entirely  of  pearls, 
and   the  blaze   of    diamonds    on    their  saraphans,    (the    ancient 
Russian  tunic)  would  have  outshone,  I  think,  St.  James's.     The 
pearl  bonnet   is   not  a  becoming  dress,    as   it   makes  its  wearer 
look   very  pale,   a  fault  which  some  ladies  had  been   evidently 
endeavouring  to  obviate.     In  general,  however,  this  is  not  a  very 
prevailing  practice  in  Moscow,  in  which  respect,  as  well  as  in.  every 


ARMENIAN  MERCHANTS— LAZAROF.  193 

other,  its  ladies  have  an  infinite  advantage  over  those  of  Petersburg,  chap. 
The  jewels  are  brought  here,  for  the  most  part,  by  Armenian  i»»«- 
merchants,  or  Tartars  from  Samarcand  and  Bocchara,  who  have 
from  the  earliest  ages  been  the  carriers  of  the  east.  They  bring 
into  Russia  shawls,  heron's  plumes,  attar  of  roses,  jewels,  and  other 
Indian  and  Cashmerian  productions,  which  bring  them  an  immense 
profit.  Their  wanderings,  which  extend  from  Poland  to  Ava  and 
Mysore,  often  last  several  years,  and  must  be  wonderfully  interest- 
ing to  any  hardy  European  who  might  venture  to  accompany  them. 
Some  of  the  Armenians  are  very  wealthy ;  one  of  them,  named 
Lazarof,  gave  during  our  stay  in  Moscow  a  magnificent  fitey  to 
which  we  pi'ocured  an  invitation,  and  met  almost  all  the  great  peo- 
ple in  the  place.  The  master  of  the  house  had  assumed  the  Euro- 
pean dress,  but  his  servants  and  dependants  retained  their  own, 
which  is  very  graceful.  Next  to  the  Georgians  they  are  the  hand- 
somest people  I  have  ever  seen. 

The  young  men  in  Moscow  are  not  generally  well-informed, 
though  all  speak  two  or  three  languages  with  fluency.  Nothing  can 
exceed  their  ignorance  of  foreign  nations,  or  their  eagerness  after 
foreign  fashions.  Of  the  English  they  have  very  little  idea.  I  was 
once  asked  if  it  were  not  true  that  we  hanged  our  prisoners  of  war  ; 
and  once  if  the  women  in  England  were  not  slaves,  and  sold  with  a 
halter  about  their  necks.  There  are,  however,  many  striking  excep- 
tions, and  we  have  met  with  several  persons  who  are  thoroughly 
well-mannered  and  well-informed,  and  who  would  be  considered 
ornaments  in  any  society  in  the  world.  The  dissipation  of  Russia  I 
had  heard  much  of,  but  in  this,  as  in  every  thing  else,  I  have  found 
the  national  character  more  amiable  and  innocent  than  it  had  been 
represented  to  me.  Cards  are  very  much  the  habit  of  the  place, 
and  they  game  very  high,  but  have  too  good  manners  to  ask  you 
to  play  twice ;  and  I  have  never  touched  a  card  except  to  draw  a 
caricature  upon  it.  The  younger  people,  in  fact,  here,  as  else- 
where, are  never  expected  to  play,  excepting  in  the  lower  circles, 
where  we  have  had  no  connexion.  On  the  whole,  if  it  were  not 
for  the  prospects  before  me,  I  should  look  upon  what  I  am  leaving 

VOL.  I.  c   c 


194  REGRET  AT  LEAVING  MOSCOW. 


CHAP,     with  regret,  as  I  always  shall  with  esteem,  as  the  seat  of  much  real 
1806.      hospitality,  good  humour,  and  good  manners.     Every  thing,  how- 
ever, increases  my  wish  to  be  in  England. 

"  Yours  affectionately, 

"  Reginald  Heber. 

"  Alas  for  Pitt ! — neither  balls  nor  belles  can  drive  him  out  of 
my  head !" 

To  Mrs.  Heher. 

Charkof,  March  26,  1806. 

"  I  am  now  writing  in  the  capital  of  the  Ukraine,  where  we 
are  enjoying  a  day's  rest,  in  a  comfortable  house,  after  a  tedious 
and  rather  fatiguing  journey  from  Moscow.     We  terminated  our 
two  months'  residence  there  on  the  13th.    The  preceding  Monday 
had  been   originally  fixed  for    our  departure ;  but  a  severe  cold, 
which  threatened  at  first  something  more  serious,  obliged  Thornton 
to  take  a  day  or  two's  nursing.     We  set  out  in  a  Polish  britchka, 
an  excellent  travelling  carriage,  resembling  a  barouche,  but  of 
very  simjile   construction,  having  springs  only  behind,  while  the 
fore-part  plays  on  an  iron  pivot.      Its  simplicity  renders  it  easy  to 
repair  in  case  of  accident,  and  its  length  enables  one  to  lie  down 
almost  as  comfortably  as  in  bed  ;  no  small  advantage  in  a  country 
where  there  is  very  often  no  other  bed  to  be  found.    Thornton's  ser- 
vant followed  in  a  kibitka ;  both  were  on  sledges,  with  their  wheels 
ready  to  be  put  on,  as  we  hoped  soon  to  get  out  of  the  '  land  of 
mist  and  snow.'      As  we  mounted  the  range  of  woody  hills  which 
look  down  on  Moscow,  with  its  white  walls,  and  its  fifteen  hundred 
spires,  we  stopped  our  horses,  and  took  a  last   and  affectionate 
farewell.     It  is  indeed  here  only,  since  my  quitting  England,  that 
I  have  felt  the  tax  which  we  birds  of  passage  are  said  to  pay,  and 
experienced  the  reality  of  those  regrets  which  it  is  so  civil  to  coun- 
terfeit, and  so  uncommon  to  feel.     At  quitting  Petersburg  I  had 
no  such  sensation ;  those  few  of  my  acquaintance  whom  I  cared 
for  I  have  a  good  chance  of  meeting  again  in  England.     But  in 


RETROSPECTION.  195 


VI. 
18U(>. 


lea^^ng  Moscow  the  case  is  widely  different ;  and  it  is  almost  a  pain-  chap. 
ful  pleasure  to  run  over  in  my  memory  the  little  circle  of  friends  I 
have  relinquished  at  once  and  for  ever.  It  is  but  a  sorry  comfort 
that  the  regrets  of  a  traveller  are  as  short-lived  as  his  pleasures  ; 
and  that  a  little  change  of  scene,  and  a  little  nearer  prospect  of 
home,  will  make  me  forget  my  Moscovite  friends,  as,  in  a  short 
time,  they  wall  forget  me.  So,  however,  it  is :  and  till  I  can  per- 
suade Moscow  and  Birmingham  to  change  places,  I  fear  we  can 
find  no  remedy. 

"  Of  former  English  travellers  Tweddell  seemed  to  have  made 
the  greatest  impression  ;  an  impression  augmented,  no  doubt,  by 
his  melancholy  and  romantic  death.  The  society  in  Moscow,  as  I 
mentioned  in  a  former  letter,  is  by  no  means  literary,  though  we 
have  found  exceptions  to  the  general  character  in  Count  Alexis 
Moussin  Pouschkin,  the  only  Russian  antiquary  known  to  exist ; 
in  Prince  Dashkof,  the  pupil  of  Robertson  at  Edinburgh,  and  some 
few  others.  With  M.  Karamsin,  whose  travels  in  Europe  are  re- 
viewed in  the  '  Edinburgh','  we  lived  a  good  deal :  he  has  married  a 
remarkably  fine  woman,  the  daughter  of  Prince  Andrew  Wiasemsky^ 
to  whom  we  had  letters  of  introduction,  and  whose  hospitality  and 
conversation  made  us  pretty  constant  visitors  at  his  house,  though 
we  seldom  agreed  in  politics,  and  Thornton  used  to  have  discus- 
sions with  him  of  an  hour  long.  M.  Karamsin  is  historiographer  to 
the  emperor,  and  is  now  employed  on  a  history  of  Russia.  He  is  a 
quiet  gentleman  like  man  of  about  forty-five  or  fifty;  and  told  me, 
shaking  his  head,  that  he  was  very  young  when  he  wrote  his  travels. 
I  afterwai'ds  found  that  a  rival  author,  for  M.  Karamsin  has  also  his 
rivals,  has  translated  into  Russ  the  Scottish  critique  on  his  travels, 
and  circulated  it  through  Moscow  with  great  solicitude.  Such  is 
the  wide-spread  celebrity  of  an  Edinburgh  reviewer.  I  am  not 
sure  whether  in  mv  last  letter  I  mentioned  the  Princess  Dashkof, 
the  friend  and  fellow-conspirator  of  Catherine  the  Second.  We 
often  visited  her,  and  found  her  conversation,  when  she  was  disen- 


'  Edinburgh  Review,  Jan.  1804. 

c  c  2 


196  RETROSPECTION. 

CHAP,    gaged  from  faro,  very  lively  and  interesting.     She,  of  course,  has 

180C. 


lost  her  ancient  beauty,  but  still  retains  her  eccentricities ;  her 
usual  dress  is  a  man's  great-coat  and  night-cap,  with  a  star.  We 
received  both  from  her  and  her  son  many  civilities  ;  she  speaks 
admirable  English,  and  he,  from  his  education,  still  better.  For 
our  introduction  to  this  family  we  were  obliged  to  Prince  Baria- 
tinsky,  whose  acquaintance  I  made  at  Petersburg  through  Mr. 
Coxe,  who  knows  my  brother,  and  who  is  a  very  friendly  good- 
natured  man.  To  no  one,  however,  at  Moscow,  I  may  add  in 
Russia,  are  we  so  much  obliged  as  to  General  Beklechef,  military 
governor  of  Moscow,  whose  attention  to  us  extended  to  every  the 
minutest  circumstance,  which  could  add  to  our  comfort  or  amuse- 
ment, in  Moscow  or  elsewhere.  While  in  Moscow,  he  regularly 
procured  us  tickets  for  every  ball,  and  gave  us  orders  to  see  the 
prisons,  public  offices,  and  every  thing  else  which  could  contribute 
to  our  amusement  or  instruction.  When  we  proposed  leaving  the 
place,  he  furnished  us,  unasked,  with  recommendations  to  all  the 
government  towns  through  which  we  were  to  pass  ;  and  to  save  us 
the  usual  three  weeks'  delay  in  obtaining  passports,  he  offered 
himself  as  guarantee  for  our  debts,  &c.,  which,  however,  as  a  month 
must  necessarily  elapse  before  our  leaving  Russia,  turned  out  to 
be  needless.  You  will  find  in  a  box  of  different  prints  which  Mr. 
Bayley  is  going  to  send  for  me  to  England,  a  good  likeness  of  this 
worthy  old  man,  which  pray  receive  with  respect,  as  the  portrait  of 
the  kindest  friend  we  have  met  with  out  of  England. 

"  My  letter  has  hitherto  been  somewhat  like  a  college  com- 
memoration of  benefactors  ;  proceed  we  now  to  our  journey.  It 
would  be  tedious  to  run  through  the  many  adventures  and  mis- 
adventures (none  however  serious)  which  we  have  met  with  in  so 
long  a  tour,  about  nine  hundred  miles.  Our  progress  in  the 
northern  part  was  impeded  by  deep  snow,  and  in  the  southern  by 
deep  mud  and  overflowing  rivers.  Our  way  lay  through  Tula  (the 
Birmingham  of  Russia,)  Orel,  and  Kourisk,  the  two  last  very  fertile 
provinces,  where  the  snow  was  already  melted,  and  the  black  rich 
mould  almost  prepared  for  the  plough.     In  this  province,  the 


COSSAKS.  197 


plough  is  already  at  work.  On  the  whole  I  have  been  much  struck  fHAP 
with  the  fertility  and  population  of  the  country,  the  number  of  i^**^ 
large  towns,  and  the  profusion  of  Churches.  Yet,  on  making  more 
rigid  enquiries,  we  seldom  found  the  number  of  people  so  great  as 
we  at  first  supposed,  and  which,  indeed,  in  some  instances,  would 
almost  have  kept  a  Chinese  statist  in  countenance.  The  country, 
though  tolerably  variegated  with  hill  and  dale,  is  never  beautiful, 
being  so  absolutely  bare  of  trees  or  brush-wood,  that  the  people 
bum  dvmg  for  fuel.  Our  present  abode,  Charkof,  is  ill  off,  as  well 
as  all  the  Ukraine,  for  water.  A  university  on  a  very  splendid 
scale  has  just  been  established  here,  and  stocked  with  French  and 
German  professors,  from  whom,  as  well  as  from  the  governor,  M. 
Backtyn,  we  have  received  a  hospitality  of  which  Oxford  itself  need 
not  have  been  ashamed.  The  people  of  the  Ukraine  and  of  all 
Little  Russia  differ  extremely,  both  in  dress  and  manner,  from  the 
inhabitants  of  Russia  proper.  They  rebelled  from  the  Poles  in  the 
reign  of  Alexis  (father  of  Peter  the  Great,)  and  again  from  the 
Russians  under  their  famous  chief  Maseppa,  who  joined  Charles  of 
Sweden.  They,  as  well  as  the  Cossaks,  who  are  of  the  same  race, 
wear  a  dress  between  Polish  and  Tartar,  and  speak  with  great  con- 
tempt of  their  Russian  neighbours. 

Taganrog,  April  1st,  1806. 

*'  My  letter,  which  was  begun  in  the  Ukraine,  is  now  finished 
on  the  shore  of  the  sea  of  Asoph,  where  we  are  just  arrived  after  a 
very  pleasant  journey  from  Charkof,  through  the  territory  of  the 
Cossaks,  enjoying  a  most  delightful  climate,  and  very  tolerable 
roads.  The  country  itself  reminded  me  much  of  Craven,  ex- 
cept that  it  is  quite  unenclosed,  and  still  more  bare  of  wood. 
It  is  almost  entirely  limestone  hills,  covered  with  verdm-e,  and  with 
numerous  herds,  but  very  thinly  peopled.  Its  inhabitants  are 
exactly  the  race  I  had  expected  to  find  them ;  boastful,  high- 
spirited,  proud,  and  jealous  of  their  ancient  customs  and  privileges  ; 
and  at  the  same  time  as  gay,  idle,  and,  apparently,  as  profligate,  as 
could  be  expected  from  a  little  commonwealth  of  soldiers.     They 


198  TAGANROG— TUMULI. 

CHAP,  are  a  very  handsome  race ;  and  their  dress,  which  is  nearly  the 
'"""•  same  as  the  Persian  or  Armenian,  is  warhke  and  becoming.  We 
have,  however,  not  yet  seen  them  in  their  capital,  Tcherkask, 
(Tcherkass,  or  Circassian,  being  the  name  they  always  give  them- 
selves,) but  we  hope  to  be  there  next  week,  after  having  spent  a 
few  days  here  to  rest  ourselves,  and  to  get  comfortably  to  bed, 
which  is  almost  a  novelty  to  us,  never  having  had  our  clothes  off 
since  we  left  Moscow,  except  for  two  nights  at  Charkof  Taganrog 
is  an  inconsiderable  sea-port  on  the  sea  of  Asoph,  which  is,  indeed, 
little  more  than  a  lake.  We  are  now  fast  approaching  classical 
ground :  before  us  are  the  Palus  Meotis,  and  the  Bosphorus :  on  our 
right  hand  the  Taurica  Chersonesus ;  and  on  our  left  the  Tanais, 
Colchis,  and  Iberia,  the  modern  Georgia  and  Circassia.  It  is  to 
this  quarter  we  are  turning  our  steps,  intending,  however,  to  stop 
on  the  safe  side  of  the  Kuban  and  Mount  Caucasus,  and  to  enter 
the  Crimea  by  the  straits  of  Taman,  (the  Bosphorus).  Whatever 
information  I  may  pick  up  respecting  Prometheus,  lo,  the  Arimas- 
pians,  or  the  Amazons,  shall  be  contained  in  my  next  letter,  which 
will  be  from  Phanagoria,  or  Theodosia,  where  we  shall  arrive,  I 
hope,  in  less  than  three  weeks.  The  only  real  antiquity  I  have 
yet  seen,  is  the  multitude  of  tumuli  on  the  steppes  between 
Baenouth  and  this  place.  Each  is  ornamented  with  one,  or  some- 
times two,  statues,  of  rude  workmanship,  and  of  antiquity  which 
neither  history  nor  even  fable  has  attempted  to  reach.  They  are, 
perhaps,  those  tombs,  for  which  alone  the  Scythians  told  Darius 
they  thought  it  worth  their  while  to  contend, 

"  We  have  seen  many  eagles  and  thousands  of  wild  ducks, 
but  have  had  very  bad  success  in  shooting.  For  the  rest,  we 
are  both  in  excellent  health,  and  exult  in  our  escape  from  the 
snows  of  the  north  to  this  delightful  climate.  We  are,  however, 
cautioned  to  beware  of  relying  on  it  too  implicitly,  and  still  con- 
tinue the  safeguard  of  great  coats  and  furs,  which  are  always 
useful  after  sun-set. 

"  I  ought  to  be  ashamed  of  sending  you  so  slovenly  a  sketch 
of  a  very  interesting  and  little  known  country ;    but  within  the 


EFFECTS  OF  CHANGE  OF  AIR.  199 

bounds  of  a  letter  accuracy  of  detail  is,  of  course,  impossible.  For  chap. 
every  thing  that  is  worthy  of  remark,  I  must  refer  you  to  my  notes,  i^oe. 
which  I  have  continued  to  keep  with  tolerable  care,  and  which 
may  help  me  in  many  a  winter  evening's  discussion.  Highly 
as  we  have  been  favoured  in  our  means  of  acquiring  knowledge,  it 
would  have  been  very  foolish  indeed  not  to  have  taken  advantage 
of  the  opportunities  afforded  us.  In  a  letter,  however,  I  can  say 
little  more  than  that  I  am  safe  and  likely  to  continue  so ;  well, 
and  likely  to  continue  so  ;  mindful  of  my  friends,  and,  I  am  very 
sure,  quite  certain  to  continue  so.  The  spring  is  already  far 
advanced,  and  the  rivers  which,  a  little  way  northwai'd,  were  conti- 
nual causes  of  delay,  are  here  all  subsided  into  their  usual  channel. 
The  leaves  are,  however,  not  quite  out,  and  I  begin  to  suspect 
that  the  earliness  of  a  Crimean  spring  is  a  little  exaggerated. 

"  This  journey  and  gradual  change  of  air  has,  I  think,  com- 
pletely restored  Thornton's  health,  about  which  I  felt  not  quite 
easy  at  Moscow.  I,  for  my  part,  wanted  no  restoration ;  but  the 
breezes  of  the  steppe  are  certainly  more  salubrious  than  the  sighs 
and  whispers  of  a  ball-room  ;  and  my  companion  assures  me  he  is 
not  the  only  person  who  has  gained  in  good  looks  since  our  journey 
began.  Our  exercise  has,  indeed,  been  constant  rather  than 
violent,  and  our  habits,  from  necessity,  very  temperate.  These  two 
specifics  will  be,  I  hope,  sufficient  to  preserve  us  in  health ;  but 
one  of  the  last  presents  which  we  received  in  Moscow  was  a  well- 
stocked  medicine-chest.  We  have  also  letters  for  the  famous 
physician  Dr.  Pallas,  to  say  nothing  of,  at  least,  a  hundred  cautions 
and  recipes  from  the  Countess  Pouschkin  and  Princess  Dashkof ; 
in  particular,  not  to  overheat  ourselves,  not  to  wet  our  feet,  and 
never  to  go  thinly  clad.  You  see  good  advice  and  good  old  ladies 
may  be  met  with  in  every  part  of  the  world. 

"  Believe  me,  my  dear  mother, 

"  Yours  most  affectionately, 

"  Reginald  Heber." 


200  EXTORTION  OF  POST-MASTERS— SNOW  STORM. 

CHAP. 

'"""•      JOURNEY  FROM  MOSCOW  TO  TAGANROG. 

"March  \Zth,  1806. — LeftMoscow.  In  the  interval  between  win- 
ter and  spring  a  traveller  must  expect  to  meet  with  considerable  diffi- 
culties, whether  he  goes  on  wheels  or  sledges.  We  had  very  many 
different  counsels  given  us,  and  I  am  inclined  to  think  the  method 
Thornton  took  with  his  britchka  was,  after  all,  much  the  best.  A 
sledge  was  put  under  the  fore  axletree,  which  raised  the  fore-wheels 
seven  or  eight  inches  from  the  ground  ;  the  hind  wheels  ran  as  usual 
The  roads  were  very  bad  indeed.  We  left  Moscow  in  company 
with  Stackhouse  and  Baker,  which  unluckily  exposed  us  to  consider- 
able inconvenience  in  getting  horses.  The  post-masters  showed 
likewise  a  strong  inclination  to  impose  on  strangers.  The  delays 
we  met  with  from  these  circumstances  were  great,  the  post-master 
extorting  double  at  the  first  stage ;  and  at  the  second,  where  we 
did  not  arrive  till  night,  the  man's  demands  were  so  exorbitant, 
that  we  got  quietly  into  the  britchka,  and  went  to  sleep,  intending 
to  wait  the  nine  hours,  after  which  we  could  legally  oblige  him  to 
produce  horses.  He,  however,  came  down  in  his  demands,  and 
we  proceeded  to  the  next  station,  where  Thornton  was  again 
obliged  to  bribe  high  to  get  horses  to  Serponchof  A  violent 
storm  of  wind  and  snow,  which  had  continued  increasing  all  the 
night,  drove  so  terribly  in  our  drivers'  faces,  and  had  so  drifted  up 
the  road,  that  it  was  impossible  to  find  it.  The  sankies  generally, 
from  their  vast  numbers,  beat  and  mark  a  road  very  soon ;  but  it 
was  too  early,  and  the  storm  too  violent  even  for  them.  We  lost 
our  way,  and  continued  about  six  hours  in  a  snow-drift ;  at  length  we 
got  shelter  in  a  miserable  cottage,  and  when  the  horses  had  rested, 
proceeded  to  Serpouchof,  where  we  lodged  in  a  little  villa  belonging 
to  the  Princess  Dashkof  The  plan  of  this  villa  was  very  conve- 
nient ;  the  best  rooms  had  divans  covered  with  thick  and  soft  mats, 
made  of  a  kind  of  sweet-smelling  grass,  which  served  as  very  com- 
fortable beds  ;  the  other  rooms  were  partially  carpeted  in  the  same 
manner,  in  which  the  servants  slept. 


SERPOUCHOF.  201 

"  Serpoucliof  is  a  department  town,  having  a  '  granitza,'  or  chap. 
mayor,  whose  Hmit  of  authority  is  bounded  by  some  white  posts,  ^^p*^- 
about  a  quarter  of  a  mile  from  town.  There  is  a  ruined  fortress 
on  a  small  eminence  on  the  river  Oka,  or,  as  it  is  pronounced,  Acca; 
tliis  river  is  not  very  considerable  here  ;  at  Orel  it  is  much  more 
so.  After  a  very  winding  course  it  receives  the  Mosqua,  and  after- 
wards falls  into  the  Volga  at  Nishne  Novogorod,  which,  from  that 
reason,  being  the  centre  of  the  water-communication  of  the  empire, 
is  sometimes  called  the  natural  metropolis  of  Russia.  Its  situation 
is  described  to  us  as  very  magnificent  and  convenient. 

"  To  return  to  Serpoucliof;  its  situation  is  pleasant,  near  a 
fine  grove  of  fir  and  oak,  and  there  are  many  good  houses  in  the 
town.  A  manufactory  of  sail-cloth,  raven-duck,  &c.  is  cai'ried  on  in 
it.  We  saw  their  manner  of  bleaching  the  flax,  but  for  Avant  of  an 
intelligent  interpreter,  could  not  vuiderstand  much  of  it.  In  winter, 
when  they  cannot  bleach  on  the  grass,  they  first  boil  the  flax,  and 
afterwards  put  it  into  cauldrons  Anth  layers  of  charcoal  alternately, 
to  steep ;  this  process,  however,  bleaches  it  very  ineffectually.  The 
fine  Imen  used  in  Russia  is  bleached  on  the  grass,  and  is  quite 
white  ;  but  all  the  linen  exported  is  only  half  bleached.  The  best 
spun  yarn  costs  twenty  rubles  per  pood,  and  the  worst  thirteen. 
The  workmen  in  this  manufactory  were  worse  di-essed  and  looked 
more  unhealthy  than  those  at  Yaroslav. 

"  March  14^/^.— Left  Serpouchof  for  Tula.  The  horses 
which  drew  our  britchka  being  quite  knocked  up,  refused  to  move, 
and  the  di-ivers  immediately  laid  the  blame  on  us,  saying  that  we 
had  '  evil  eyes.'  On  our  way  we  met  a  gentleman  in  a  kibitka, 
drawn  by  three  horses,  one  before  the  other,  with  the  postilion  on 
the  middle  horse.  This  is  the  usual  manner  of  harnessmg  them 
in  cross-country  roads,  where  the  track  is  narrow.  Russian  ser- 
vants on  a  journey  endure  great  hardships,  being  exposed  to  a  cold 
of  which  an  Englishman  can  scarcely  form  an  idea;  and  travelling 
night  and  day  for,  sometimes,  eight  or  ten  days  together,  on  the 
outside  of  a  kibitka,  or  in  an  open  sanky.  The  country  on  this 
side  of  Serpouchof  is  bare  of  trees,  and  all  arable.     The  peasants 

VOL.  I.  D    d 


202  PEASANTS'  HOUSES. 


CHAP,  are  much  poorer  than  in  the  north,  which  is  owing,  in  some  mea- 
1806.  sure,  to  the  clearness  of  fuel ;  yet  they  all  wear  the  labhas  (shoes 
of  linden  bark.)  Their  houses  are  miserably  small,  consisting 
merely  of  a  small  ante-chamber,  where  they  sometimes  keep  their 
cattle,  and  another  room,  where  they  Hve.  The  stove,  which  is 
without  a  chiimiey,  occupies  about  a  third  part  of  one  side  of  the 
room;  and  the  remainder  of  that  side  is  fitted  vipwith  something  like 
a  Turkish  divan,  covered  with  straw,  on  which  all  the  people  sleep 
who  are  not  lucky  enough  to  get  on  the  stove.  The  fire  is  made 
of  wood,  turf,  or  dung,  and  there  is  a  hole  in  the  roof  of  the  house 
by  which,  for  some  minutes,  they  allow  the  grosser  smoke  to  es- 
cape ;  they  then  close  it,  and  the  whole  room  becomes  one  stove. 
The  houses  are  all  thatched,  instead  of  being  covered  with  shin- 
gles, and  the  walls  are  generally  made  of  wood  instead  of  mud, 
notwithstanding  its  dearness ;  the  people  rather  choose  to  dimi- 
nish the  size  of  their  cottages,  than  to  adopt  a  different  material  for 
building  them.  They  are  dirtier  than  the  inhabitants  of  Yaroslav, 
and  are  much  worse  fed. 

"  Zavodi,  our  next  post,  so  named  for  its  mineral  waters,  is  a 
neat  village  with  a  very  decent  post-house — decent  at  least  in  com- 
parison with  what  we  have  generally  seen.  The  next  day,  March 
15th,  we  arrived  at  Tula,  capital  of  the  province  of  the  same  name, 
famous  for  its  iron  works  and  for  being  a  very  ancient  foundation. 
The  original  town  is  now  only  marked  out  by  its  walls  which  are 
entire,  but  merely  contain  the  Cathedral  Church  and  a  few  govern- 
ment buildings  ;  its  circuit  is  so  small  that  I  should  doubt  its  ever 
having  been  any  thing  more  than  a  fortress  or  convent,  though  the 
people  call  it '  Gorod.'  The  new  town  is  of  great  extent  and  consi- 
derable population,  containing  about  25,000  inhabitants  ;  the  streets 
are  for  the  most  part  very  wide  and  generally  built  at  right  angles 
to  each  other  ;  on  the  ascent  of  the  hill  which  is  behind  the  town,  is 
an  extensive  square  with  two  very  large  buildings  apparently 
belonging  to  government ;  near  it  on  the  left  hand,  but  rather 
higher  up,  is  a  singular  Church  with  white  columns,  of  two  stories 
high,  which  is,  indeed,  no  imcommon  cucumstance  in  Russia,  the 


TULA— .\RSENAL.  •  203 

ground-floor,  which  is  much  lower  than  the  other,  beins  warmed    chap. 

VI 

with  stoves  and  used  in  winter.  A  small  river  runs  tlirough  the  isok 
town ;  the  barriers  are  adorned  with  ridiculous  triumphal  arches 
of  painted  deal,  and  the  ornaments  on  the  gate  of  the  arsenal  are 
of  the  same  material.  The  iron  used  in  the  arsenal  is  partly  taken 
from  some  mines  belonging  to  M.  Dimidof,  situated  between  this 
place  and  Kaluga,  and  partly  brought  all  the  way  by  the  sledge- 
road  from  Siberia.  What  is  used  in  the  government  fabric  is 
chiefly  of  the  latter  kind ;  the  number  of  persons  who  labour  in  the 
government  works  are  about  3,500,  and  those  who  are  employed 
in  private  fabrics  are  about  3000.  The  guns  made  here  look  very 
neat,  but  the  springs,  locks,  &c.  are  all  bad,  and  the  guns  very  apt 
to  bm-st  when  they  are  discharged.  It  is  a  common  trick  with  the 
workmen  to  put  '  London'  on  their  works,  sometimes  even  in 
Russ  characters  ;  a  most  clumsy  attempt  at  imposition.  A  tole- 
rable musket  may  be  bought  for  two  or  three  guineas  English. 
One  of  the  overseers  of  the  government  fabric,  a  M.  Leontief,  is 
himself  a  very  good  workman,  and  was  formerly  an  apprentice  of 
Nock.  In  these  latter  works  they  usually  make  1,200  musquets  a 
week ;  and  in  case  of  need  can  supply  a  regiment,  which  may 
demand  about  1,600.  In  the  arsenal  are  many  old  guns  of  various 
patterns  and  weight,  according  to  the  whims  of  Potemkin,  Paul, 
Peter  the  lid.  &c.  &c.  The  present  emperor  has,  since  the  affair 
of  Austerlitz,  sent  down  a  new  model ;  the  musquet,  without  the 
bayonet,  weighing  only  10^  pounds  English.  The  wood  used 
in  making  them  is  supplied  by  some  considerable  woods  in  a 
low  swampy  tract  of  country  which  bounds  the  province  to  the 
south  ;  they  are  under  the  direction  of  a  set  of  government  rangers, 
with  the  principal  of  whom  we  dined. 

"  We  found  very  bad  inns  in  Tula,  though  we  understood 
that  this  was  only  owing  to  our  having  taken  the  recommendation 
of  the  peasants  who  drove  us ;  we  were  unfortunate  in  the  absence 
of  several  of  those  persons  to  whom  we  had  letters  of  introduction, 
as  we  were  thereby  deprived  of  many  pieces  of  information  respect- 
ing the  fabric,  such  as  the   expence  and  time   of  carriage,  the 

D  d  2 


204  OREL. 

CHAP,  quality  of  the  iron  in  the  neighbouring  mines,  which  indeed  we 
t^"*^-  understood  was  inferior  to  that  of  Siberia,  and  the  reasons  which 
induced  government  to  carry  their  raw  material  such  a  distance  to 
a  country  neither  abounding  in  wood  nor  convenient  water- 
carriage,  instead  of  working  it  on  the  spot.  Much  of  the  private 
trade  of  Tula  is  in  toys  and  smaller  hardware ;  minute  steel  chains 
and  steel  snuff-boxes  are  the  principal  articles  manufactured. 
There  are  also  some  dealers  in  hogs'  bristles,  one  of  whom  Thornton 
visited  ;  he  saw  in  his  yard  a  pig  of  the  bristle-bearing  breed, 
which,  however,  differed  but  little  from  any  other  Russian  pig, 
and  a  very  bad  breed  it  is.  Thornton  could  get  little  infor- 
mation to  be  depended  on  about  the  bristles  ;  the  man  said  that 
none  were  got  without  killing  the  hog ;  one  hog  seldom  afforded 
more  than  a  pound  of  bristles,  which  were  cleaned  by  combing,  and 
then  laid  out  on  boards  to  dry  in  the  sun. 

"  March  18th.  Left  Tula ;  the  first  stage  presents  a  very 
fine  wood,  and  a  valley  much  resembling  English  park  scenery, 
which  is  a  sight  of  rare  occurrence  here.  As  we  advanced, 
we  found  a  very  great  improvement  in  the  manners  of  the  people, 
and  in  the  facility  of  procuring  horses ;  this  last  may,  possibly,  be 
owing  to  there  being  fewer  travellers.  The  snow  gradually  began 
to  melt;  we  met  kibitkas  on  wheels,  and  saw  winter  wheat.  The 
country  people  had  many  of  them  instead  of  the  fur  cap,  the  sum- 
mer dress,  a  broad  brimmed  hat.  On  the  19th  we  passed  through 
a  great  dirty  town  with  eight  Churches,  called  Meenski ;  it  stands 
on  a  small  river  which  falls  into  the  Oka ;  we  breakfasted  there, 
but  could  hear  of  no  manufactures  nor  any  thing  worth  seeing. 
The  same  evening  we  arrived  at  Orel,  a  government  town  of  con- 
siderable size  and  importance,  with  a  good  inn,  at  least  for  Russia, 
kept  by  an  Italian ;  Italians  and  Germans  are  scattered  all  over 
Russia.  Orel  is  in  a  very  noble  situation  on  the  banks  of  the  Oka, 
which  is  crossed  here  by  a  wooden  bridge  ;  bridges  of  better  ma- 
terials are  very  imcominon,  and  would,  indeed,  be  annually  exposed 
to  destruction  from  the  ice  and  floods.  The  government  buildings 
are    extensive,  consisting  of  a  long  range  of  barracks   and   gra- 


OREL— KOURSK.  205 

naries  ;  much  of  the  grain  for  the  use  of  the  army  is  collected  here,  c  hap. 
the  whole  of  the  province  being  arable.  The  province  is  populous,  '8og- 
containing  above  a  million  of  inhabitants.  The  barracks  are  des- 
tined for  the  regiment  of  the  cuirassiers  of  St.  George,  which  is 
raised  and  generally  quartered  in  the  neighbourhood.  There  is  a 
civil  but  no  military  governor  ;  he  complained  greatly  of  the  want 
of  society,  and  said  that  there  were  very  few  gentlemen's  families  in 
the  neighbourhood,  and  even  these  seldom  came  to  Orel.  No 
manufactures  of  any  consequence  are  carried  on  in  the  town ;  its 
chief  trade  is  in  flour.  As  we  entered,  the  drivers  had  some  bar- 
gaining with  a  gentleman  who  wished  to  purchase  one  of  their 
horses,  for  which  they  refused  thirty  rubles ;  it  was  a  poney  which 
might,  in  England,  have  fetched  eight  or  ten  pounds.  Our  stay  in 
Orel  was  short,  for  there  seemed  little  to  be  learnt,  and  the 
governor  was  very  uncommunicative.  In  the  market  we  saw  a 
vast  quantity  of  lime  bark. 

"  March  20th. — We  here  left  our  sledges,  a  step  somewhat 
premature,  as  we  found  the  clay  we  had  to  go  over  retained  the 
snow  longer  than  the  sandy  soil  to  the  northward.  We  travelled 
all  night,  and  at  seven  in  the  morning  of  the  21st  were  set  fast  for 
about  two  hours  in  a  deep  hole,  whence  we  were  dragged  by  the 
assistance  of  a  dozen  horses,  which  we  borrowed  from  some  sankies 
that  happened  to  be  passing.  We  were  induced  to  leave  our 
sledges  at  Orel  by  the  example  of  some  Polish  travellers  who  had 
come  from  Kief  on  wheels. 

"  March  22d. — We  arrived  at  Koursk  about  nine  o'clock,  a.m. 
and  got  into  a  very  decent  house  kept  by  a  Russ,  who  had  married 
a  German  wife.  Soon  after  our  arrival,  a  physician  named  Klugel- 
macker,  brother-in-law  to  our  host,  called  on  us  and  said  that  we 
had  no  time  to  lose  in  crossing  the  little  river  near  the  town,  as,  in 
a  few  hours  it  would  be  out  of  our  power  to  do  so,  from  the  quan- 
tity of  ice  which  the  heavy  floods  were  bringing  down.  We  re- 
ceived a  very  obhging  message  from  the  governor  to  the  same 
purport,  accompanied  with  a  padorashna  as  far  as  Taganrog,  and  a 
letter  to  the  mayor  of  Bielgorod.     We  dined  at  the  ordinary,  and 


•206  BIELGOROD— CHARKOF. 

CHAP,     endeavoured  to  learn  somethinff  about  the  towoi ;  it  has  no  nianufac 


VI 


1806.  tures;  cattle  and  corn  are  the  products  of  the  country  and  their  only 
articles  of  commerce ;  both  are  very  plentiful  and  cheap.  There 
dined  at  the  ordinary  the  host,  the  German  hostess,  and  four  other 
persons,  two  of  whom  spoke  German  and  one  a  little  French  ;  we 
had  some  Rhenish  wine,  with  the  name  of  which  they  were  un- 
acquainted. We  had  no  time  to  deliver  our  letters  of  introduction 
here, — but  leaving  the  town  after  dinner,  we  made  a  detour  to 
avoid  the  ruinous  bridge,  and  crossed  the  stream  on  a  temporary 
one  higher  up.     Dr.  Halhday  was  a  long  time  physician  at  Koursk. 

"  We  breakfasted  on  Sunday  the  23rd  at  a  very  neat  village 
belonging  to  the  Archduke  Constantine. 

"  March  24th. — We  passed  through  Bielgorod,  a  large  town 
with  many  Churches.  Within  one  stage  of  Charkof,  finding  no 
horses,  we  made  a  bargain  with  a  man,  who  was  travelling  with  two 
fine  horses  and  a  httle  poney,  to  di-aw  us  there,  a  distance  of  about 
twenty-four  versts,  though,  as  we  found  too  late,  he  had  ah-eady 
come  thirty-six  versts  without  baiting  :  he  was  drunk,  and  we  lost 
our  way,  and  passed  the  night  in  a  farm-yard,  after  being  di-awn 
by  oxen  out  of  a  bog. 

"  Charkof  is  the  capital  of  the  government  of  Sloboda 
Ukranien.  The  w^ord  Ukraine  signifies  frontier.  This  is  a  different 
province  from  the  Polish  Ukraine,  which  comprehended  the 
countries  between  Poland,  Russia,  Turkey,  and  Hungary.  As  this 
formed  the  frontier  between  Russia  and  the  Tm-kish  dominions, 
the  inhabitants,  as  well  as  those  of  Little  Russia,  all  anciently 
belonged  to  Poland,  from  whom  they  revolted  in  the  reign  of 
Alexis  ;  they  possessed  many  privileges,  having  their  own  Hetman, 
and  enjoying  an  exemption  from  the  power  of  the  nobility,  and 
many  other  of  the  privileges  of  the  Cossaks.  Those  of  the  Slo- 
boda Ukranien  were  bona  fide  Cossaks,  till  Catherine  took  away 
all  their  privileges  ;  they  are  now  bona  fide  Russians,  but  still  pre- 
serve their  language  and  their  dress,  and  are  very  proud  of  their 
nation.  We  were  struck  by  the  frequency  of  swearing  m  all 
Little  and  New  Russia ;  it  is  infinitely  more  common  than  in  the 


CHARKOF— UNIVERSITY.  207 


northern  parts  ;  the  people  are  said  to  be  great  drunkards,  but  are,     chap. 


VI. 


on  the  whole,  a  more  cleanly  and  industrious  race  than  the  people  ^^'^^ 
of  the  north.  Their  houses  are  no  longer  built  of  timber,  which  is 
here  very  scarce  indeed,  but  of  clay  whitewashed,  and  much  more 
decent  in  appearance  than  we  had  expected. 

"  Notwithstanding  the  quantity  of  cattle,  milk  is  rarely  to  be 
met  with,  and  they  make  neither  butter  nor  cheese  ;  the  milk  is 
entirely  employed  for  then*  calves,  feeding  cattle  being  their  chief 
husbanchy.  The  little  milk  we  could  get  was  always  considered  as 
so  much  stolen  from  the  calf,  who  continued  sucking  on  one  side  of 
the  cow,  while  the  woman  was  milking  at  the  other,  and  after  some 
time  they  changed  sides,  to  which  method  the  calf  seemed  quite 
accustomed.  We  were  assured  that  the  cattle  from  hence  were 
sometimes  driven  even  into  Germany.  The  crown  has  large  property 
here,  as  well  as  in  the  neighbouring  parts.  The  houses  in  all 
Little  and  New  Russia  are  good,  and  the  condition  of  the  people, 
except  in  the  article  of  fuel,  is  easy ;  their  soil  is  apparently  the 
same  calcareous  loam  which  prevails  throughout  the  empire,  to 
the  south  of  Ancient  Russia,  and  water  is  every  where  scarce 
and  bad.  In  finery  and  dress  these  Cossaks  far  surpass  the  Rus- 
sians, especially  the  women.  We  once  saw  in  a  cottage  an  old 
woman  who  was  covered  with  gaudy  ornaments  ;  she  had  on  a  silk 
gown  embroidered  with  gold,  a  short  silk  petticoat ;  and  an  '  impe- 
rial' hung  round  her  neck ;  she  looked  at  our  spoons,  and  said  that 
she  herself  had  twelve  such,  as  well  as  some  knives  and  forks,  a  tea- 
kettle, and  a  pretty  daughter,  who  was  to  inherit  all  this  wealth. 
Peacocks  are  kept  as  common  poultry  in  the  Russian  cottages  of 
the  south. 

Chrakof  is  itself  a  large  and  dirty  town,  in  rather  a  fine 
situation ;  it  has  a  very  handsome  building  for  the  offices  of  go- 
vernment and  the  courts  of  justice,  and  another  where  Catherine 
lodged  during  her  short  stay,  which  was  erected  on  purpose.  It 
has  been  since  used  as  the  governor's  house,  and  is  now  the  univer- 
sity. This  university  was  founded  about  three  years  ago  by  the 
present  emperor,  and  is  a  noble  pubUc  work.     It  has  a  chancellor, 


208  CHARKOF  UNIVERSITY. 


CHAP,  the  Count  Potolski ;  a  rector,  who  resides  constantly ;  and  will, 
^806•  when  complete,  have  twenty-eight  professors,  and  twelve  lecturers 
who  have  not  the  rank  of  professors.  They  are  all  paid  very  libe- 
rally by  government,  independent  of  what  they  receive  from  their 
pupils,  which  is,  indeed,  not  much.  M.  Du  Ballu,  a  Frenchman, 
the  Greek  professor,  told  me  his  income  was  a  clear  four  thousand 
rubles  a  year.  M.  Du  Ballu  was  quite  an  original,  and,  indeed, 
as  might  be  expected  from  a  new  society,  it  was  a  complete  para- 
dise of  schemes,  every  one  having  some  new  system  of  instruction 
to  propose.  Mm.  Urnlauf,  alone,  a  very  sensible  Prussian  who 
spoke  English  perfectly,  and  who  was  professor  of  hvmianity  and 
of  Geraian  literature,  declared  himself  against  all  schemes,  and 
stood  up  for  the  old  plans.  We  attended  a  lecture  of  M. 
Ballu's,  on  French  tragedy,  and  another  of  M.  Stoicovitz's,  the  phi- 
losophical professor  on  electricity  ;  the  instruments  he  used  were 
all  English.  M.  Stoicovitz  is  a  Slavonian  by  birth  ;  he  finds  the 
Russian  so  similar  to  his  own  language,  that  he  has  acquired  it 
with  very  little  difficulty.  We  met  also  the  mathematical  pro- 
fessor, a  Russ,  who  knew  nothing  of  Euclid ;  he  said  he  pos- 
sessed all  Newton's  works  in  one  quarto  volume,  an  edition  of 
which  we  had  never  heard.  The  governor,  Baktyn,  is  himself 
rather  a  literary  man,  and  very  attentive  to  the  university  ;  he  was 
formerly  procurator  at  Tobolsk,  when  Bootle  was  there,  and  was 
very  intimate  with  Bentham.  From  him  I  picked  up  some  par- 
ticulars about  Siberia.  There  is  a  sudden  change  of  appearance 
in  the  country  as  soon  as  you  have  crossed  the  Ural  mountains  ;  on 
one  side  are  oaks  and  firs  ;  on  the  other  neither  oak  nor  fir  is  seen  ; 
then-  place  is  supplied  by  a  species  of  cedar.  The  country  is  very 
fertile,  and  much  resembles  North  America;  its  population  is 
scanty,  but  the  people  cleanly,  hidustrious,  and  thriving.  There 
are  very  few  estates  belonging  to  the  nobility ;  all  the  peasants  are 
owned  by  the  crown. 

"  To  return  to  Charkof  and  its  university.  Every  professor  has 
the  rank  of  colonel  or  major,  according  to  his  age ;  every  lecturer 
the  rank  of  captain ;  and  every  student  that  of  ensign.     The  num- 


CHARKOF  UNIVERSITY.  209 

ber  of  students  are  not  above  eighty,  sixty  of  whom  are  the  sons  of  chap. 
priests.  They  are  obhged  to  attend  lectures  regularly,  are  i^'"' 
examined  four  times  a  year,  and  at  length  such  of  them  as  are 
deserving  are  provided  for  either  in  the  Church,  the  civil  or 
military  departments.  Their  dress  of  ceremony  is  a  green  uniform 
with  a  sword ;  that  of  the  professors  is  embroidered.  There  is  a 
small  but  increasing  library,  and  the  whole  establishment  does 
great  credit  to  its  founder  and  to  those  who  manage  his  bounty. 
The  professors  complained  of  the  situation  of  the  university  as 
being  quite  too  remote,  and  wished  much  for  a  translation  to  Kief. 
They  had  had  some  letters  from  different  universities  in  Germany 
of  which  they  were  very  proud  ;  their  hospitality  and  urbanity  to 
strangers  was  worthy  of  All  Souls  or  of  Trinity.  The  manners  of 
the  place,  of  the  loungers  at  the  German  traiteurs,  &c.  had  all, 
even  already,  acquired  something  of  an  academical  air,  and  we 
heard  every  mouth  full  of  the  rising  university.  The  music-master 
told  us  that  the  people  of  Little  Russia  had  a  remarkable  ear  for 
music,  and  that  most  of  the  noblemen's  bands  came  from  that 
province ;  he  had  himself  a  peasant  as  his  pupil,  who  certainly  did 
him  great  credit ;  he  also  taught  on  an  entire  new  system. 

"  In  Charkof  we  found  every  thing  reasonable,  and  the  posti- 
lions were  ready  to  throw  their  caps  into  the  air  for  much  less 
money  than  would  have  even  contented  them  in  the  neighbourhood 
of  Moscow.  The  wages  of  a  man  are  not  above  fifteen  or  twenty 
copeks  a  day ;  neither  this  nor  any  of  the  towns  in  Little  Russia 
are  paved ;  in  fact  they  have  no  materials  for  paving  in  the 
province.  Charkof  stands  on  a  small  river  which  is  fordable  in 
summer  ;  but  the  very  heavy  rains  of  the  spring  and  autumn  swell 
it  to  a  considerable  height,  and,  with  the  melting  of  the  snow,  have 
left  many  deep  chasms  in  the  hill  on  which  the  town  is  built ;  the 
water  is  very  bad.  The  soil  on  the  southern  side  is  sandy,  and 
there  is  a  considerable  wood  of  firs. 

We  left  Charkof  on  the  27th,  and  were  obliged  to  make  a  con- 
siderable detour  on  the  Pultova  road  to  Merkof  in  order  to  avoid 
inundations,  and  had  then  great  difficulty  in  persuading  the  men  to 

VOL.  I.  EC 


210  DONETZ  FERRY. 


CHAP,    give  US  peasants'  horses  to  take  us  across  the  country  to  Smiof, 
i8oti.      where  we  rejoined  the  Bakmuth  road.     The  roads  were  execrable, 
and  we  did  not  arrive  there  till  four  the  next  morning.     We  found 
a  very  clean  post-house,  kept  by  one  of  the  most  beautiful  women  I 
have  seen  in  Russia  ;  her  husband  was  also  a  fine  looking  stout  fel- 
low.    We  were  obliged  to  wait  here  some  time  for  horses,  during 
which,  having  a  letter  from  governor  Backtyn,  we  went  to  the  gra- 
nitza  of  the  place,  and  procured  from  him  an  order  for  peasants' 
horses  in  the  next  village,  which  we  afterwards  found  of  great  use. 
In  the  course  of  this  stage  we  crossed  the  Donetz ;  its  waters  had 
already  somewhat  subsided,  but  still  covered  an  expanse  of  about  an 
English  mile.     The  valley  thus  inundated  was  bounded  by  woody 
hills,  and  the  scenery  was  very  pleasing.     The  ferry-boats  used  in 
Russia  are  two  or  more  canoes,  each  of  a  single  tree,  lashed  toge- 
ther with  spars,  at  six,  eight,  or  ten  feet  distant,  with  a  platform  laid 
upon  them  sufficiently  large  to  contain  one  or  two  carriages  with 
their  horses  ;  the  form  of  their  canoes  exactly  resembles  those  of 
the  Friendly  Islands  as  described  by  Cook.    At  Izume  we  crossed  the 
Donetz  a  second  time  ;  the  boatmen  here  showed  great  unwilling- 
ness to  take  us  over  because  we  travelled  with  post-horses,  which 
they  are  obliged  by  law  to  pass  at  a  much  lower  rate  than  what 
they  extort  from  the  peasants.     Some  fifty  or  a  hundred  peasants 
were   assembled  on  the  beach  waiting  for  the  boat ;    we   were 
among  them  above  two  hours,  and  had  an  opportunity  of  again 
observing  the  good-nature  of  the  Russian  character,  as,  notwith- 
standing the  crowd  and  confusion,  not  a  single  quarrel  took  place. 
They    showed   great    sjnmptoms   of  being    unused   to   strangers, 
mimicked  our  words  and  tones,  and  seemed  much  diverted  at  our 
talking  a  different  language.     This  was  the  only  time  we  had  seen 
any  marks  of  insolence  in  a  Russian  towards  a  foreigner.     We  had 
here  again  a  letter  for  the  granitza,   and  were  obliged  to  have 
recourse  to  his   authority  to  procure  ourselves  a  passage.     The 
stream  was  very  much  discolom-ed,  rapid   and   violent ;    it  was 
passed  in  the  usual  way  by  means  of  a  great  cable. 

"  Immediately  above  Izume,  before  passing  a  ruined  barrier 


BAEMUTH— STEPPES.  211 

of  a  very  singular  form,  we  ascended  some  high  chalky  downs,  much  chap. 
resembling  the  downs  of  Surry.  They  continued  for  about  twelve  i«og- 
miles,  during  which  space  we  witnessed  many  terrible  ravages  of 
torrents,  from  the  melting  of  the  snow ;  into  one  of  the  chasms 
made  by  their  force  our  carriage  was  very  near  slipping.  We 
passed  the  night  at  a  village  where  was  a  fair  of  cattle ;  I  unfor- 
tunately forget  the  price  of  a  pair  of  oxen,  but  it  struck  me  as  not 
so  cheap  as  might  be  expected. 

"  The  29tli  of  March  we  reached  Baemuth,  the  ancient  fron- 
tier of  Malo  Russia,  and  the  Crimean  Khans ;  it  is  the  first  town 
in  Novo  Russia,  a  miserable  place,  \\\i\\  notoriously  bad  water,  and 
in  an  unhealthy  situation.  Here  the  steppes  begin ;  the  soil  is  all 
the  same  species  of  whitish  calcareous  clay.  In  the  neighbour- 
hood of  Baemuth,  and  scattered  all  over  the  steppe,  are  vast  num- 
bers of  an  ancient  species  of  monument,  consisting  of  a  small 
tumulus,  on  the  top  of  which  a  male  and  female  figure  are  gene- 
rally rudely  carved  in  hme-stone.  We  had  heard  them  attributed 
to  the  Monguls,  but  I  cannot  find  that  the  Calmuks  know  any 
thing  about  them ;  and  they  have,  perhaps,  a  much  higher  antiquity. 
Human  skeletons,  the  bones  of  horses  and  other  animals,  have  been 
found  in  those  which  have  been  examined.  There  are  still  some  small 
to'WTis  and  villages  in  the  steppe,  and  much  of  it  is  ploughed.  We 
passed  through  three  of  these  villages ;  they  had  willows  planted 
about  them,  and  had,  at  first,  something  the  effect  of  English 
villages,  from  the  mixture  of  enclosures,  houses,  &c. ;  but  the 
charm  was  dissipated  on  a  nearer  approach  ;  the  habitations  are  all 
miserable,  and  dirty,  and  small.  The  inhabitants  were  mostly 
Malo  Russian  colonists ;  to  appearance  they  were  more  wretched 
than  the  peasants  of  Muscovy,  but  all  the  information  we  could 
gain  seemed  to  prove  the  contrary.  Their  masters,  we  were 
assured  by  the  people  at  Taganrog,  were  much  more  merciful  than 
the  Russians,  and  this  was  confirmed  by  Thornton's  servant,  who 
had  spent  many  years  of  his  Ufe  in  this  part  of  the  country. 
Labour  is  very  dear,  and  for  what  little  corn  they  grow  they  find 
a  ready  vent.     We  asked  them  over  and  over  again  what  they 

E  e  2 


212  IVANOVNA. 


CHAP,    received  for  a  day's  work  at  Taganrog,  but  could  get  no  satisfactory 


VI 


1806.  account ;  sometimes  their  masters  received  it,  sometimes  they 
themselves  ;  sometimes  it  was  a  ruble,  sometimes  a  few  copeks. 
Almost  all  the  land  is  in  the  possession  of  government. 

"  Ivanovna,  where  we  arrived  on  the  morning  of  the  30th, 
is  one  of  the  principal  villages.  There  was  a  fair  here  of  felt, 
cattle,  linen,  gauze,  &c.  We  observed  that  many  of  the  inhabit- 
ants were  Jews.  These  people  are  common  in  Muscovy,  but  in 
Malo  Russia  are  numerous,  though  not  so  much  so  as  in  Poland. 
At  Charkof  almost  all  the  inns  and  kabaks  are  kept  by  Jews  ; 
they  all  speak  German. 

"  At  the  distance  of  about  ninety  versts  to  the  left  of  Ivanovna, 
is  the  foundery  of  Lugan,  conducted  by  Sir  Charles  Gascoigne, 
who  has  a  house  there,  where  he  frequently  passes  his  summers. 
We  were  prevented  from  seeing  this  foundery,  and  therefore  were 
obliged  to  content  ourselves  with  the  scanty  information  we  could 
pick  up.  No  iron  is  produced  on  the  spot,  but,  as  at  Tula,  all  is 
brought  from  Siberia.  There  is  a  mine  of  coal  near  it  resembling 
that  of  Scotland.  Pallas,  in  his  account  of  the  Crimea,  maintains 
that  it  is  unable  to  bear  the  action  of  bellows,  and  is,  consequently, 
useless  in  the  forge.  Baron  Camperhausen  assured  us,  however, 
that  this  difficulty  had  been  surmounted  by  a  more  diligent  exami- 
nation of  the  mine.  Indeed,  charcoal  or  wood  must  be  immensely 
dear,  so  that  no  fabric  could  exist  without  the  aid  of  pit-coal. 
This  fabric  is  employed  by  government  in  forging  arms,  cannon, 
&c.  for  the  Crimea,  Black  Sea,  Caspian  Sea,  and  Siberia,  for  all 
which  places  it  is  conveniently  situated.  Old  honey-combed  guns 
are  broken  into  small  fragments  at  Sebastopol,  and  sent  to  Tagan- 
rog by  sea  ;  from  whence  to  Lugan,  where  they  are  cast,  the  car- 
riage is  short  and  easy.  Many  English  are  employed  in  this 
foundery. 

"  Several  small  bodies  of  Pagan  Calmuks  wander  during  the 
summer  on  all  this  steppe.  After  leaving  Ivanovna  there  are  few 
habitations  to  be  seen,  except  the  half-buried  huts  of  the  Cossaks 
who  are  stationed  for  the  post.     The  last  post-house  before  Tagan- 


SUSLIK.  213 

rog  is  like  all  the  posts  on  the  steppe,  an  excavation  in  the  side  of  chap. 
a  bank ;  it  adjoins  a  ferry  on  the  river,  which  is  the  road  to  Mari-  '»""• 
nopol.  Oiu*  road  branched  off  to  the  left  up  a  pretty  steep  though 
not  high  hill,  ahnost  at  the  summit  of  which  was  a  well,  wliich  our 
drivers  extolled  as  being  excellent  water.  This  hope  (a  very  flat- 
termg  one  to  people  who  had  been  some  days  drinking  puddle  on 
the  steppe)  was  not  disappointed.  The  country  was  still  bare  of 
leaves,  except  a  little  appearance  on  the  willows  ;  the  whole  plain 
in  a  deep  mire,  and  every  thing  dismal.  We  saw  for  the  first  time 
vast  numbers  of  the  suslik,  a  small  animal  wliich  I  beheve  belongs 
to  the  hamster,  and  consequently  to  the  marmot  class.  Its  external 
form  more  resembles  the  ferret,  especially  when  they  sit  erect  at 
their  holes ;  they  burrow  deep  in  the  ground,  and  the  peasants  com- 
plain bitterly  of  them  as  destructive  to  the  corn.  Their  cry  resem- 
bles a  man  whistling  with  a  key  at  liis  mouth.  The  peasants  all 
said  the  only  way  to  catch  them  was  by  pouring  water  into  their 
holes,  which  uniformly  drove  them  out.  They  are,  indeed,  very 
difficult  marks  for  a  giui,  and  they  take  shelter  in  their  bmrows 
with  great  nimbleness.  Once,  however,  I  saw  an  instance  of  one 
being  fascmated,  to  all  appearance,  by  a  man's  eye,  and  remaming 
unmovable,  yet  trembling,  and  wiiisthng  loud  in  gi'eat  alarm,  till 
the  man  was  almost  close  to  it ;  so  close,  that  I  thought  it  possible 
to  set  liis  foot  on  it.  The  Calmuks,  we  are  told,  are  fond  of  their 
flesh,  but  the  Cossaks  spoke  of  it  with  aversion ;  the  hamster  is, 
how  ever,  sometimes  eaten  by  the  gipseys  in  Hungary.  The  multi- 
tude of  these  creatures,  for  the  country  is  stocked  like  a  rabbit- 
warren,  draws  together  a  great  many  eagles  of  but  small  size,  and 
almost  rivalled  by  the  great  buzzard,  of  w liich  we  saw  numbers,  and 
of  both  of  w  liich  the  susUk  forms  the  principal  food.  In  the  track 
we  pm'sued  we  saw  none  of  these  httle  animals,  till  we  got  into  the 
government  of  Taganrog.  Tliis  extends  only  about  ten  miles 
inland,  and  over  the  north  coast  of  the  Sea  of  Azoph ;  to  the  north 
and  east  it  is  bounded  by  the  Don  Cossaks  ;  to  the  west  the  Nogays 
have  still  a  nominal  Khan,  who  has  a  fixed  residence  in  a  large 
village  to  the  west  of  Marinopol.      I  was  told  by  Camperhausen, 


214  NOGAY  TARTARS. 


CHAP,    that  in  1805,  an  ordinance  had  passed,  to  make  the  Tartars  bear 


\  I. 


'»o^'-  arms,  on  the  same  footing  as  the  Cossaks.  I  could  never  exactly 
ascertain  the  nmnbers  of  the  Nogays  ;  they  cultivate  a  great  deal 
of  corn,  as  we  were  told  by  Mr.  Dalmas,  a  French  merchant  at 
Taganrog,  but  I  could  not  learn  what  became  of  it '.  There  is 
none  exported  from  Taganrog ;  and  Camperhausen  and  Dalmas, 
who  had  both  been  often  through  their  country  to  Perekop,  agreed 
that  the  Nogays  themselves  consumed  but  very  little,  and  disliked 
bread  as  an  article  of  food.  They  extend  from  Marinopol  to  near 
Perekop,  along  the  coast  of  the  sea  of  Zabascha.  Their  tents,  of 
which  I  saw  one  or  two,  or  at  least  the  frames  of  them,  differ  from 
those  of  the  Calmuks,  as  being  more  clumsy,  and  never  taken  to 
pieces,  but  are  carried  about  on  cars.  This  usage  they  seem  to 
have  borrowed  from  the  primitive  Scythian  population.  Their  own 
kindred,  the  Calmuks,  have  much  larger  tents,  and  much  better 
adapted  to  a  country  where  wood  is  scarce  ;  and  being  easily  taken 
to  pieces,  are  transported  from  spot  to  spot  with  greater  facility  on 
camels.  The  Nogays,  in  fact,  train  their  camels  to  the  yoke,  for 
which  they  are  ill  quahfied,  and  the  practice  of  which  is  unknown, 
by  what  I  could  learn,  among  all  the  Mongul  tribes  in  Asia.  The 
Calmuk  tent,  too,  is  shaped  externally  like  a  European  bell-tent 
without  the  long  ropes,  while  that  of  the  Nogay  resembles  a  bee- 
hive ;  both  are  made  nearly  of  the  same  materials,  and  I  could  not 
help  fancying  that  the  Nogays  had  the  Mongul  tent  placed  on  the 
old  Scythian  kibitka.  The  Russians  call  the  tent  of  the  Calmuk  and 
Nogay  '  kibitka'  alike,  though  to  the  last  only  the  name  is  at  all  ap- 
plicable. In  other  respects,  the  few  Nogays  whom  I  saw  betrayed 
a  great  mixture  with  Tartar  and,  I  thought,  with  European  popula- 
tion ;  they  are  taller  and  finer  men  than  the  Calmuks.  We  heard 
much  of  their  horsemanship,  and  of  their  eating  raw  flesh.  The 
last  I  had  never  an  opportunity  of  verifying ;  the  first  I  saw  some- 
thing of  near  Perekop. 

"  The  climate  varies  very  greatly  between  the  steppe  and 

'  We  afterwards  saw,  at  Phanagoria,  four  vessels  with  corn  from  Marinopol. 


TAGANROG.  215 


Taganrog ;  in  the  latter  place  the  spring  we  were  told  was  ten    chap. 
days  earlier;  yet  on  our  approach  to  the  sea  of  Azoph  we  saw  masses      i"""- 
of  ice  still  floating  in  it,  some  as  big  as  a  large  chning  table.     The 
liill  we  had  now  ascended  is  part  of  a  branch  of  rather  high  land 
which  runs  from  the  steppe,  and  terimnates  in  the  round  bluff 
point  of  Taganrog,  which  was  now  lying  before  us  and  almost 
under  us.     The  harbour  as  yet  only  presented  a  few  unfortunate 
vessels  which  had  been  detained  by  the  ice ;  they  were  all,  at  least 
all  that  were  in  sight,  two-masted  and  European  built.     The  sea, 
though  we  could  plainly  distinguish  its  termination  to  the  south- 
east (a  low  indistinct  line  of  coast  on  which  Azoph  stands)  had  still 
to  us,  who  had  Ijcen  so  long  inland,  a  very  magnificent  appearance, 
and  ^ve  could  hardly  help  calling  out,  OaXuTTci,  OaXarra. 

"  The  down  we  were  on  was  all  grass ;  it  sloped  gradually  to 
a  plain  almost  on  the  level  of  the  sea  on  our  left  hand ;  on  the 
right  it  seemed  extensive ;  no  part  appeared  to  be  cultivated,  and 
the  whole  surface  was  teeming  with  susliks.  The  situation  of 
Tagam-og  or  '  the  cape  of  the  tea-kettle,'  so  called  from  the  form 
of  the  rock  on  which  the  fortress  stands,  struck  us  as  rather 
imposing.  It  is  a  round  bluff  promontory  of  no  great  height,  with 
a  pentagonal  fort  now  ruined,  though  it  still  retains  a  garrison  of 
one  company,  on  the  garrison  estabhshment,  of  a  hundred  and  sixty 
men.  It  contams  a  Chmxh,  some  miserable  barracks,  and  a 
wooden  hut  w^hich  Baron  Camperhausen  turned  into  a  club-room  ; 
there  is  also  a  room  used  for  dancing,  very  ill  furnished  and  with 
no  ornament  but  a  Tm'kish  looking-glass,  and  a  smaller  place  like 
a  coach-office,  where  the  Moniteur  and  some  other  French  and 
German  papers  are  taken  in.  Under  the  east  side  of  the  fort  is  a 
small  mole  now  almost  choked  with  mud ;  on  the  north-west  is  a 
high  down  where  the  inhabitants  have  their  promenades  on 
Sundays,  and  where  is  the  lazaretto  ;  on  the  north,  and  sloping 
down  the  east  side  of  the  hill,  is  the  town,  with  tolerably  broad 
streets  built  at  right  angles,  two  Russian  and  one  Greek  Church. 
Beyond  this  there  extends  a  row  of  w  arehouses  on  the  shore,  and 
at  a  Httle  distance  further  are  two  houses  surrounded  with  a  iew 

9 


216  TAGANROG— SEA  OF  AZOPH. 

CHAP.  Dutch  elms  and  mllows,  the  only  trees  in  the  neighbourhood ;  the 
1806.  warm  snug  side  of  the  hill  beyond  is  occupied  with  vineyards, 
chiefly  the  property  of  the  Greeks,  and  with  three  considerable 
distilleries  of  brandy.  The  intense  cold  of  the  winters  of  1802,  3, 
and  4,  destroyed  the  vineyards  entirely ;  some  of  them  we  were 
told  were  beginning  to  recover,  but  they  Avere  never  very  profitable. 
The  houses  among  the  willows  were  occupied,  one  by  the  governor, 
Baron  Camperhausen,  the  other  by  Madame  Cashparoff,  an  Arme- 
nian ;  from  the  gallery  of  this  last  house  Pallas'  view  of  Taganrog 
is  taken. 

"  On  entering  the  town  we  were  struck  by  the  multitude  of 
well  dressed  persons  in  the  Cossak  habit,  who  appeared  to  be 
returning  from  market ;  we  had  before  seen  only  the  miserable 
wretches  at  the  posts  on  the  steppe.  We  drove  to  a  Greek  coffee- 
house which  was  so  small  and  dirty  that  our  stomachs  revolted  at 
it,  and  after  much  enquuy  we  got  lodgings  with  the  bailiff  of  the 
town,  who  had  a  large  wooden  house  adjoining  to  his  own,  which 
he  let  annually  to  the  Russian  and  Cossak  traders  who  frequented 
the  fair ;  this  fair,  as  it  may  be  properly  called,  is  at  its  height 
about  midsummer.  From  November  to  March  the  sea  is  frozen 
and  navigation  is  seldom  safe  earlier  than  April ;  as  soon  as  the  ice 
is  supposed  to  have  past,  a  small  vessel  is  sent  from  Taganrog  to 
Kertch,  and  vice  versa;  after  this  signal  the  navigation  commences. 
From  April  to  midsummer  a  south-west  wind  prevails  very  steadily, 
which  greatly  increases  the  depth  of  water,  and  favours  the  arrival 
of  vessels.  About  midsummer  the  water  is  generally  deepest, 
when  the  sea  is  crowded  with  small  vessels ;  the  harbour  admits 
bvit  few.  Vessels  may  then  lie  tolerably  near  the  shore ;  at  other 
times  ships  of  two  hundred  tons  are  compelled  to  lie  in  the  open 
sea  fifteen  versts  (ten  miles)  from  the  shore.  In  autumn  the  sea  of 
Azoph  is  often  no  more  than  fourteen  feet  at  its  greatest  depth. 
From  Taganrog  to  Azoph  is  a  shoal,  or  continuation  of  shoals,  with 
hardly  seven  feet  water,  and  in  some  places  only  five.  The 
number  of  vessels  is  generally  from  six  to  seven  hundred.  Of 
these,  about  one  hundred  and  fifty  or  two  hundred  are  small  craft 


FISHERY.  217 


from  Trebizond  and  Sinope,  which  bring  '  nardek,'  a  marmalade  of    chap. 

1806. 


grapes,  and  '  bekmiss,'  a  sirup  made  from  various  fruits  by  boil- 
ing them  with  honey.  Raisins  of  the  sun  are  also  brought  in  great 
quantities  ;  all  these  are  used  in  the  distilleries.  Since  the  destruc- 
tion of  the  vineyards  by  the  late  hard  winters,  the  bekmiss  has 
become  more  necessary.  The  spirit  thus  produced  is  sold  all  over 
the  empire  as  French  brandy.  The  Greeks  of  the  Archipelago 
bring  chiefly  wine,  of  a  very  poor  sort,  which  is  also  used  in  the 
distilleries.  Of  these  Greeks  about  one-third  carry  the  Russian 
flag  ;  but  as  our  friend  Dalmas  said,  '  Mauvais  Utisse,  mauvais  Pa- 
vilion.' They  are  of  very  bad  character,  and  very  poor.  Any 
Greek  who  would  purchase  a  house  and  land,  became  at  once  a 
Russian  subject,  and  enjoyed  their  protection.  The  real  Russian 
traders  are  very  few ;  the  European  traders  were  Italian,  Ragusan, 
Austrian,  and  Dalmatian,  and  in  1805  a  few  French,  but  under 
English  colours,  and  with  Maltese  crews.  These  bring  French 
wines,  and  German  and  English  cloth,  and  carry  back  fish  and 
iron;  hemp  and  cloth  too  are  brought  from  Koursk  and  Charkof,  and 
from  their  neighbourhood.  These  heavy  commodities  are  carried 
down  on  sledges  in  the  winter,  at  which  time  also  the  greatest 
fishery  is  carried  on.  The  Don  and  sea  of  Azoph  are  very  abund- 
ant in  fish,  which  are  of  the  same  kind  as  those  of  the  Volga ;  sterlet 
is  common  here,  and  sometimes  very  large.  At  Petersbm-g  it  is 
considered  a  great  rarity,  and  a  soup  made  of  it  has  been  known  to 
cost  four  or  five  hundred  rubles.  Potemkin,  when  in  Moldavia, 
sent  an  aid-de-camp  to  a  celebrated  cook  at  Moscow  to  bring  him 
a  pot  of  his  soup,  which  was  sent  sealed  up  with  the  cook's  seal 
and  name  on  the  lid.  The  sterlet  has  its  mouth  placed  like  a 
flounder's.  The  sturgeon  is  also  very  common,  as  well  as  the  large 
species  here  called  '  bieluga,'  or  white  fish,  which  is  sometimes  four- 
teen feet  long.  A  large  white  fish,  called  '  sudak,'  is  the  common 
food  of  the  lower  classes,  and  is  the  principal  species  exported. 
When  the  season  for  the  fishing  arrives,  holes  are  made  in  the  ice 
at  small  distances,  and  the  net  passed  under  from  each  of  these  to 
the  next  in  succession  by  means   of  a  pole,  until  a  large  tract  is 

VOL.  I.  F    f 


218  HISTORY  OF  TAGANROG. 


CHAP,  enclosed.  Christmas  is  consequently  as  busy  a  time  as  midsum- 
1806.  Hier,  and  a  mild  winter  is  ruinous.  It  is  then  that  the  Russ  mer- 
chants  bring  their  commodities,  which  are  purchased  by  the  fac- 
tors resident  at  the  place.  This  is,  however,  but  a  small  part  of 
the  trade,  in  comparison  with  what  it  derives  from  the  salt,  fish, 
tallow,  beef,  &c.  furnished  from  the  Don,  to  which,  as  things  at  pre- 
sent stand,  it  is  the  port.  The  merchandize  brought  from  Voro- 
netz  comes  down  to  Rostof  in  barks  which  will  not  bear  the  sea, 
but  are  broken  up  there ;  their  cargoes  are  again  embarked  in 
lighters,  which  convey  them  to  Taganrog  and  to  the  ships  in  the 
Road.  As  the  wind  changes  to  the  east,  and  the  water  grows  shal- 
•  lower,  they  get  farther  and  farther  out  to  sea,  and  are  often 
obliged  to  sail  without  having  completed  their  cargo.  This  singu- 
lar kind  of  monsoon  takes  place  almost  every  year  after  midsum- 
mer ;  the  governor  said  it  seldom  failed.  Storms  are  not  uncom- 
mon ;  and  the  navigation  is  considered  as  very  unsafe,  by  reason  of 
the  numerous  shoals  and  the  want  of  shelter.  Marinopol,  Arabat, 
and  some  other  coves  are  only  deep  enough  for  lighters. 

"  Taganrog  was  built  by  Peter  the  Great,  who  was,  however, 
obliged  to  give  it  up  to  the  Tvuks,  as  well  as  Azoph  and  all  the  ter- 
ritory as  far  as  Rostof  and  Baemuth,  by  the  peace  signed  at  Pruth. 
Catherine,  in  the  first  Turkish  war,  repossessed  herself  of  these 
places,  as  well  as  of  the  island  and  fortress  of  Taman ;  and  Taganrog 
was  again  hkely  to  flourish  had  not  Potemkin  thrown  every 
obstacle  in  the  way,  in  order  to  favour  Cherson,  his  own  creation. 
He  refused  it  a  quarantine ;  and  when  Catherine  was  at  Cherson, 
and  expressed  a  wish  to  visit  Taganrog  and  the  mouths  of  the  Don, 
Potemkin  opposed  himself  very  warmly  to  her  intention.  Yet  she 
often  seems  to  have  thought  about  this  place,  and  mentions  it  in 
one  of  her  letters  to  Voltaire.  After  Potemkin's  disgrace,  Cathe- 
rine showed  it  many  marks  of  favour,  both  as  having  been  founded 
by  Peter  the  Great,  and  as  being  then  the  only  harbour  within  a 
m.oderate  distance  of  the  Don.  At  present  the  establishment  of 
Caffa,  and  its  becoming  a  free  port,  has  made  the  question  of  the 
utility  of  Taganrog  more  than  doubtful ;  the  quarantme  is  now 

7 


QUARANTINE.  219 

indulged  to  it  as  far  as  relates  to  all  goods  not  liable  to  infection    chap. 
(' contumace').  isoe. 

"  All  vessels  are  examined  at  Kerteli  before  they  enter  the 
sea  of  Azoph ;  such  as  are  loaded  with  woollen  stuffs,  which 
includes  all  coming  from  Europe,  must  perform  quarantine 
either  there  or  at  Caffa  ;  the  rest,  which  are  loaded  entirely  with 
fruit,  wine,  &c.,  are  allowed  to  proceed  direct  to  Taganrog,  where 
they  perform  quarantine.  It  has  been  lately  proposed  to  govern- 
ment, by  the  merchants  of  Caffa,  to  establish  a  lighterage  direct 
from  Rostof  to  Arabat,  whence  there  is  a  short  passage  by  land  to 
Caffa.  This  course,  they  say,  was  that  taken  by  the  Genoese  and 
Greeks  ^^'ith  the  ancient  Russians,  whose  \\'icker  boats  came  to 
Arabat  without  fear  or  danger.  They  support  their  cause  by  argu- 
ments draAm  from  the  shallo\Miess  of  the  sea  of  Azoph,  the  difficul- 
ties of  the  strait  of  Janicale,  &c. ;  and  add  that  if  vessels  ai"e  allowed 
to  go  to  Taganrog  without  a  previous  quarantine,  the  facilities  of 
communicating  with  the  land  must  not  only  give  great  room  for 
contraband  trade,  which  in  other  respects  would  be  injurious,  and 
in  so  narrow  a  sea  impossible  to  prevent,  but  might  even  introduce 
the  plague  into  the  heart  of  Russia.  They  were,  therefore,  strongly 
against  a  quarantine  at  Taganrog,  as  being  dangerous  and  expen- 
sive ;  urging  also  that  the  lighters  which  now  carried  the  goods 
from  Rostof  to  Taganrog,  would  equally  well  carry  them  the  whole 
distance  to  Arabat,  which  would  be  a  great  nursery  for  seamen- 
This  plan  would  almost  entirely  destroy  the  trade  of  Tagam-og,  as 
diu-ing  the  time  that  vessels  are  lying  in  quarantine,  they  unload 
their  goods  m  warehouses  appointed  for  that  purpose,  and  much 
less  time  is,  therefore,  lost,  than  if  they  were  obliged  to  perform 
the  quarantine  at  any  but  their  final  destination.  The  inhabitants 
have  endeavoured  to  parry  this  attack,  which,  if  it  had  succeeded, 
must  have  sunk  Taganrog  into  a  port  of  cabotage,  merely  export- 
ing hemp  and  corn  to  Arabat,  and  importing  iron  from  Lugan,  by 
urging  that  the  circumstances  of  the  Greek  merchants  on  the  one 
hand,  and  of  the  Cossak  and  Russian  traders  on  the  other,  their 
small  capitals  and  want  of  mutual  confidence,  will  not  admit  of  the 

F  f  2 


220  SOCIETY. 

CHAP,  intermediate  race  of  factors  and  correspondents  required  by  the 
'""f-  Arabat  scheme;  and  that  all  the  business  of  Taganrog  is  transacted 
viva  voce,  and  without  the  long  credit  which  wovild  be  extremely 
inconvenient  to  both  parties.  They  also  urge  that  the  fruits,  wines, 
and  marmalades  brought  in  the  Greek  vessels,  are  not '  contumace,' 
and  are  of  a  nature  to  suffer  exceedingly  by  being  disembarked, 
and  can  in  no  case  bear  a  carriage  over  land ;  the  wme,  in  parti- 
cular, is  contained  in  very  large  and  very  thin  casks,  into  which  it 
is  pumped  after  they  are  stowed  in  the  vessels.  They  plead  the 
cruelty  of  ruining  an  ancient  Russ  town,  the  creation  of  Peter 
the  Great,  and  suggest  the  consideration  that  it  is  found  in 
America,  that  those  ports  are  most  advantageous  to  the  country 
which  have  the  most  inland  situation.  Much  petitioning  on 
both  sides  had  taken  place;  and  General  Fanshaw,  governor 
of  Caffa,  had  been  residing  many  months  at  Petersburg,  exerting 
all  his  influence  in  favour  of  his  schemes.  About  the  time  we 
arrived  here,  the  limited  quarantine  which  I  have  mentioned,  was 
granted  to  Taganrog,  and  government  promised  a  gift  of  100,000 
rubles  to  General  Fanshaw  to  establish  a  bank  at  Caffa  and  a  port 
at  Arabat,  and  had  also  promised  500  oxen  to  be  employed  in  the 
land  carriage  from  Arabat  to  Caffa. 

"  The  quarantine  of  Tagam*og  is  partly  held  under  tents,  and 
partly  in  some  huts  open  on  the  northern  side,  on  a  point  a  little 
to  the  west  of  the  fort.  One  of  these  huts,  which  is  appropriated 
to  the  examination  of  new  comers  by  the  physician,  is  furnished 
with  two  strong  wooden  grates,  through  which  he  sees  and  interro- 
gates them  without  fear  of  infection.  Every  thing  in  the  town 
showed  apparent  poverty  and  disadvantage  of  situation.  The 
European  merchants  or  supercargoes,  for  few  of  them  traded  on 
their  own  account,  were  dirty,  vulgar,  and  ill-informed,  and  evi- 
dently detested  the  place ;  they  were  mostly  Ragusans,  and  of  bad 
character.  At  the  door  of  one  of  these  men  we  observed,  as  we 
were  walking  with  M.  Dalmas,  a  very  fine  girl,  neatly  dressed,  who 
had,  he  told  us,  been  sold  to  this  Albanian,  as  his  mistress,  by  her 
owner,  a  gentleman  from  the  province  of  Onega.      This  is  as  com- 


MADAME  CASHPAROF— SCOTCH  MISSIONARIES.  221 

plete  slave-trade  as  any  on  earth ;  but  it  is  an  evasion,  and  a  very  chap. 
common  one,  of  the  laws  which  forbid  foreigners  to  purchase  slaves.  '^^^- 
The  to^^^l  is,  in  a  great  measure,  peopled  by  Greeks,  who  have  alarge 
Church,  where  service  is  performed  in  the  '  Ellenisky,'  as  they  call 
the  ancient  language.  The  modern  Greek  is  called  '  Romaisky.'  The 
society  is,  of  course,  small ;  the  principal  people  are  the  governor, 
a  really  well-informed  man ;  Madame  Cashparof,  (an  Armenian,) 
widow  to  a  late  governor  of  Georgiessk,  who,  with  an  old  German 
who  lived  in  her  house,  had  drawn  together  a  kind  of  literary  club 
of  neighbours ;  Mon.  Dalmas,  and  a  Russian  Lieutenant-general 
Tregoubof,  an  intelligent  man,  who  had  lately  become  a  merchant, 
a  very  unusual  thing  for  a  Russian  field-officer  to  do,  and  possessed 
several  ships.  He  complained  that  so  great  was  the  general 
uncertainty  and  apprehension  of  violent  measures  which  England 
was  expected  to  take,  that  he  could  get  no  insurance  at  Odessa  or 
Caffa  to  extend  beyond  the  Archipelago.  Madame  Cashparof  is 
the  daughter  of  Lazarof,  the  owner  of  the  famous  diamond  pvu:- 
chased  by  Alexy  Orlof  for  Catherine,  and  niece  to  Lazarof,  the 
very  rich  Armenian  merchant  at  Moscow.  She  was  born  at  Astra- 
chan,  where  the  Armenians  have  their  head-quarters ;  their  sect  is 
highly  favovu-ed  in  Russia,  being  permitted  every  where  to  build 
Churches,  and  even  to  make  their  processions  publicly  through 
the  streets.  Madame  Cashparof  gave  us  several  particulars  re- 
specting the  Scotch  missionaries  at  Georgiessk ;  they  are  to  the 
number  of  thuty,  men  and  women.  The  principal  person  among 
them  is  named  Brunton,  whom  she  described  as  a  man  of  abihties, 
and,  in  particular,  as  possessing  great  power  of  acquiring  languages. 
He  had  made  very  extraordinary  progress  in  the  Russian  and 
Circassian  tongues ;  had  been  in  many  parts  of  the  world  as  mis- 
sionary ;  and  had  with  him  a  yoimg  negro  whom  he  represented  to 
be  the  son  of  an  African  king,  who  had  entrusted  him  to  his  care  for 
education.  They  had  suffered  greatly  by  disease  and  the  dearness 
of  all  the  necessaries  of  hfe,  and  were  kept  m  frequent  alarm  by 
the  Tcherkesses,  on  whom  their  labours  had  produced  very  little 
effect,     Madame  Cashparof  spoke  of  this  little  colony,  particularly 


•2-22  EVE  OF  PALM-SUNDAY. 


CHAP.  ofBrunton,  and  a  Mr.  Paterson,  with  much  praise,  both  of  their 
'«»"■  industry  and  respectable  character.  Georgiessk  is  about  seven 
hundred  versts  from  Tcherkask ;  it  is  in  a  magnificent  situation  at 
the  foot  of  the  Caucasus  ;  near  it  are  the  famous  hot-baths.  The 
Circassians  of  the  horde  of  Little  Kabarda  are  allied  with  Russia, 
but  those  of  the  other  tribes  are  mostly  hostile.  Madame  Cash- 
parof  and  a  few  others  spoke  good  English,  and  Thornton  heard  a 
common  Greek  sailor  in  the  streets  speaking  it  fluently. 

"  Every  thing  at  Taganrog  is  dear  but  corn  and  fish ;  firing 
remarkably  so  ;  a  pile  of  faggots,  one  faggot  thick  and  one  square 
arskine  in  surface  cost  thirty  rubles.  The  usual  fuel  is  reeds,  or  a 
long  species  of  bent  grass ;  and  even  this  is  very  costly,  and  gives 
httle  heat.  Manual  labour  and  free-servants  of  all  kinds  are 
excessively  dear. 

"  While  we  were  here  we  had  an  opportunity  of  seeing  the 
ceremonies  of  the  eve  of  Palm  Sunday  ;  all  the  priests  in  the  town 
and  neiehbourhood  assembled  at  some  little  distance  from  the 
town,  with  their  banners,  crosses,  and  religious  pictures  ;  about 
two  hundi-ed  people  attended,  a  few  with  branches  in  their  hands ; 
the  rest,  in  default  of  branches,  with  bundles  of  grass,  and  went  in 
slow  procession,  singing  hymns,  to  the  principal  Chiu-ch.  There 
was  much  crowd  and  much  crossing  and  bowing,  but  no  great 
appearance  of  devotion.  We  found  these  people  much  stricter  in 
their  observance  of  Lent  than  any  of  the  northern  Russians ; 
yet,  though  we  could  only  procure  fish  at  the  governor's  and 
Madame  Cashparof 's,  sucking  pigs  were  sold  openly  in  the  market 
in  vast  quantities.  They  were  thus  sold  to  prepare  for  Easter, 
when  every  Russ  family  kills  a  pig ;  a  singvUar  kind  of  anti-Jewish 
passover.  The  population  of  Tagam-og  can  hardly  equal  two 
thousand  persons. 


CHAPTER   VII. 


TAGANROG   TO   TCHERKASK. 


Commodities  of  New  Russia — Climate — Cossaks — Lent — Vietcfrom  Okhasi — Dons- 
kotf  Cossaks — Rostof- — Fishing  of  the  Don — Armenian  settlement  at  Nakitchivan 
—  Colonel  Abraamof — Armenians — Axy — Cahnuk  tents  —  Dance  of  the  ring 
— Tcherkask — Inundation — Cathedral  —  Bazar  —  Mahomedans  —  Platof  the 
Cossak — Manners  and  appearance  of  the  Cossaks — Government — Armies  of  the 
Don — Zaporogian  Cossaks — Territory  of  the  Cossaks  of  the  Don — Armies  — 
Education — Shooting  party — Sepulchral  crosses — Eastern  ceremonies — Donskoy 
wine — Morasses  below  Tcherkask — Flooded  country — Story  of  Circassian  prince. 


To  Richard  Heber,  Esq. 

"  Okhasi,  halfway  between  Tcherkask  and  Azof, 
April!,  1806. 

"  My  Dear  Brother, 

"  I  PROMISED  ill  my  letter  to  my  mother  from  chap. 
Taganrog  to  report  progress  again  from  Theodosia  {ci-devant  i«oti- 
Kaffa.)  An  accidental  delay  of  a  night  in  one  of  the  stanitzas  of 
the  Don  Cossaks,  in  whose  country,  indeed,  such  delays  are  very 
frequent,  gives  me  another  opportunity  of  writing  home,  which  I 
am  unwilling  to  lose ;  especially  as,  from  the  irregularity  of  the 
post  in  these  remote  provinces,  a  letter  of  reserve  is  almost  always 
prudent.  I  mentioned  slightly  in  my  last  letter,  our  leaving 
Moscow,  our  being  lost  in  the  snow,  our  hospitable  reception 
in  the  house  of  Princess  Dashkof,  and  our  delays,  at  first 
from  deep  and  afterwards  from  melted  snow ;  the  hospitahty 
we  met  with  at  Tula,  and  afterwards  at  Charkof  The  first 
of  these  places   is    chiefly  remarkable  for  its  extensive  govern- 


•224  MANUFACTURE  OF  ARMS. 

^yiY'  ment  forges,  where  1200  musquets  are  made  every  week.  The 
'^'^''-  number  of  workmen  is  about  3,500.  The  iron  is  all  brought 
on  sledges  from  Siberia.  We  found  in  the  manager's  deputy  a 
very  sensible  plain  man,  who  spoke  English,  and  had  served  his 
apprenticeship  in  London.  In  the  armory  are  piled  a  great  num- 
ber of  arms  of  all  fomis  and  weights,  according  to  the  whims  of 
Commanders-in-chief;  for  the  cut  of  a  bayonet  here  changes  its 
fashion  as  often  as  a  light-horse  uniform  in  our  owti  country. 
Since  the  time  of  Potemkin,  five  or  six  modes  have  all,  in  their 
turn,  become  unfashionable.  The  weapons  of  Paul's  reign  are 
prodigiously  heavy  and  large ;  some  of  the  swords  are  almost 
unmanageable.  Since  the  late  action,  the  present  emperor  has  sent 
down  a  model  which  seems  very  good.  It  is  like  our  usual  musquets, 
and  the  bayonet  fits  on  in  a  secure  and  ingenious  way ;  in  other 
points  it  resembles  the  Prussian  pieces. 

"  When  I  mention  the  distance  from  which  the  iron  is  brought, 
you  may  conceive  the  advantage  derived  to  Russia  from  the  steady 
continuance  of  the  fi-ost,  which  creates  a  kind  of  natural  and  universal 
rail-road.  While  the  sledge  roads  continue,  a  single  horse  can  draw 
wath  ease  a  ton  weight  from  one  extremity  of  the  empire  to  the 
other ;  a  wonderful  means  of  communication,  which  effectually 
compensates  for  the  distance  from  the  sea,  and  the  difficulties  of 
their  internal  navigation  from  ice,  floods,  and  extreme  drought, 
which  follow  close  on  the  heels  of  each  other.  We  had  heard 
much  of  the  fertility  and  population  of  the  country  through  which 
we  were  to  pass ;  the  first  more  than  answered  our  expectations, 
the  soil  being  in  many  places  as  complete  manure  as  one  can  see. 

"  The  population  is,  I  think,  inferior  to  that  on  the  borders 
of  the  Volga,  which,  to  a  traveller,  is  a  much  more  interesting  coun- 
try, though  an  agriculturist  would  perhaps  prefer  the  ploughed  and 
naked  hills  of  Koursk  and  Orel.  Every  thing  which  we  have  seen  in 
the  south  of  Russia  appears  of  modern  construction,  and,  except  to 
the  north  of  Tula,  nothing  exists  which  is  not  the  erection  of  the 
Empress  Catherine.  There  are  no  Tartar  forts  ;  no  ancient  convents 
or  Chmches  ;  nor  any  of  the  marks  of  long-rooted  wealth  which 


COMMODITIES  OF  NEAV  RUSSIA.  225 

appear  between  Moscow  and  Kostroma.  Their  place  is  but  ill-  chap. 
supplied  by  arcades  of  painted  wood,  pillars  of  stones,  pyramids  i^oe' 
of  lath  and  plaister,  and  mean  timber  houses  arranged  in  wide 
streets  and  regular  squares.  These  plans  were  chiefly  given  by  the 
empress  during  her  journey  to  Cherson ;  and  thovigh  the  effect  at 
present  is  not  good,  will  certainly,  in  process  of  time,  people  Rus- 
sia wdth  most  magnificent  towns.  To  the  prosperity  of  the  south- 
ern parts  nothing  seems  to  have  been  wanted  but  a  vent  for  their 
commodities,  which  is  now  obtained  by  Odessa,  and  by  the  little 
town  of  Taganrog.  ***** 

*  *  ***** 

*  *  *  *  This,  as  well  as  the  Cri- 
mea and  the  other  conquests  of  Potemkin,  labour,  as  yet,  under 
all  the  disadvantages  of  infant  settlements,  while  the  excessive 
scarcity  of  timber  forms  another  inconvenience,  from  which  such 
settlements  are  generally  exempt.  On  the  other  hand,  they  have 
the  vinusual  good  fortune  of  being,  in  some  measure,  the  natural 
outlet  of  the  mother-country,  all  the  great  rivers  of  Russia,  the 
Dwina  excepted,  falhng  into  the  Black  Sea ;  and  though  the  canal 
of  Vislmi  connects  the  Volga  with  the  Ladoga,  yet,  as  the  stream 
of  the  former  is  exceedingly  rapid,  all  bulky  articles  can,  at  a  much 
less  cost,  be  brought  southward  than  northward.  This,  with  the 
recent  discovery  of  coals,  and  the  canal  which  will  certainly  one  day 
be  executed  between  the  Don  and  the  Volga,  will  produce  won- 
derful effects,  though  not,  I  think,  so  great  as  some  sanguine  rivals 
of  Petersburg  and  Riga  have  endeavoured  to  prove.  The  native 
commodities  of  New  Russia  are  only  fish  and  corn ;  the  sweetmeats 
and  brandy,  of  which  they  make  vast  quantities,  are  chiefly  produced 
fi-om  the  grapes  and  fi-uits  imported  from  Trebizond  and  Sinope. 
The  clunate,  notwithstanding  its  southern  latitude,  fully  answers 
to  Ovid's  complaint  of  the  Bosphorus  and  Palus  Maeotis,  which 
are  indeed  barely  salt-water,  and  are  still  annually  frozen  over.  It 
is  dvu-ing  this  fi.-ost  that  their  greatest  fishery  is  carried  on  by  means 
of  holes  in  the  ice,  under  which  they  drag  the  net ;  a  mild  win- 
ter is  almost  ruin  to  Taganrog.     The  neighbouring  villages  stink  of 

VOL.  I.  G   g 


226  ARMENIAN  SETTLEMENT  OF  NAKITCHIVAN. 

CHAP,    fish  so  much,  that  we  were  a  eood  deal  reminded  of  Drontheim ; 

VII. 

1806.  and  the  case  grew  worse  and  worse  as  we  advanced  to  the  banks  of 
the  Don.  The  quantities  of  fish  in  this  river  absohitely  exceed 
behef,  though  the  present  is  not  the  season  for  the  fishery ;  they 
may  be  in  some  spots  ladled  out  with  scoop-nets.  The  Cossak 
villages  are  built  close  to  the  water,  and  at  present  are  almost  all 
flooded ;  many  miles  of  low-land  are  overflowed  every  spring,  and 
where  the  waters  are  subsiding,  present  a  horrible  view  of  morasses 
and  reeds.  These  last  are  very  valuable  to  the  inhabitants,  being, 
in  fact,  their  only  fuel.  The  Cossaks  are  all  in  easy  circumstances ; 
they  are  freeholders ;  and,  as  a  nation  of  soldiers,  are  exempt  from 
most  taxes.  They  are  better  dressed  than  the  Russians,  and,  what 
is  seldom  the  case  with  fishermen,  are  cleanly  m  their  persons  and 
houses.  They  are  all  '  starovertzi,'  (old  behevers,  as  they  call 
themselves,)  though  the  Russians  tax  them  as  '  rosholnihi^  (schis- 
matics,) and  are  much  warmer  in  their  zeal  than  any  persons  we 
have  before  met  with.  In  general,  the  Russians,  though  they  keep 
Lent  strictly  themselves,  do  not  care  how  foreigners  act ;  but  at 
Taganrog,  when  Thornton  asked  for  a  fowl,  he  received  a  look  as  if 
he  had  desired  to  have  St.  John's  head  in  a  charger.  Milk,  eggs, 
and  butter  are  strictly  proliibited ;  and  the  more  religious  people 
even  hold  fish  in  abhorrence.  Their  own  food  at  this  season  consists 
cliiefly  of  pickled  mushrooms,  onions,  and  wheat  or  millet  fried  in  oil. 
"  We  have  been  employed  this  morning  in  examining  an 
Armenian  settlement,  to  the  number  of  some  thousand  famihes, 
who  have  built  a  to\Mi  under  the  name  of  Nakitchivan,  and  carry 
on  a  considerable  commerce,  preserving  the  language  and  habits  of 
then-  country.  A  pretty  widow  of  Taganrog,  who  speaks  English, 
and  is  herself  an  Armenian,  the  Avidow  of  a  late  Russian  governor 
of  Georgiessk,  gave  us  a  letter  for  the  principal  man  in  the  town,  a 
Mr.  Abraamof,  who  has  served  in  the  army  and  has  the  rank  of  a 
lieutenant-colonel.  His  son,  a  little  boy  of  ten  years  old,  spoke 
French  and  was  om*  interpreter.  We  were  pressed  to  stay  all 
night ;  but  our  time  is  precious,  as  the  heats  of  the  Crimea  are  fast 
approaching.     We  had  hoped  to  get  to  Tcherkask  to-night,  but 


TCHERKASK.  227 


we  found  the  road  flooded,  and  the  boatmen  refused  to  take  us  till     chap 


VII. 


to-morroAV  morning.  It  is  too  much  trouble  they  say,  and  they  i^*^" 
will  not  lose  a  night's  rest  for  any  foreigner  living.  This  town  is  a 
singular  mixture  of  Cossak  houses  and  the  black  felt  tents  of  the 
Calmuks,  all  fishermen,  and  with  their  habitations  almost  thrust 
into  the  river.  From  the  windows  of  the  public-house  where  I  am 
writing  the  view  is  very  singular  and  pleasing.  The  moon  is  risen, 
and  throws  a  broad  glare  of  light  over  the  Don,  which  is  here  so 
widely  ovei-flowed  that  the  opposite  bank  is  scarcely  visible ;  the 
foreground  is  a  steep  limestone  hill  covered  mth  cottages  and 
circular  tents ;  and  we  hear  on  every  side  the  mingled  charac- 
teristic sounds  of  the  singing  of  the  boatmen  on  the  river,  the 
barking  of  the  large  ferocious  Calmuk  dogs,  which,  in  all  these 
countries,  are  suffered  to  prowl  about  during  the  night,  blended 
with  the  low  monotonous  chant  of  the  Cossak  women,  who  are 
enjoying  the  fine  evening  and  dancing  in  a  large  circle  in  the 
streets.  The  form  of  the  dance  exactly  resembles  that  of  Mol- 
da^^a,  and  is  not  very  different  from  what  is  called  by  the  modern 
Greeks  *  the  dance  of  Ariadne,'  described  by  Lady  Craven. 

"  Tcherkask,  April  8th. — We  arrived  here  this  morning 
at  eleven  o'clock,  after  being  punted  with  long  poles  over 
flooded  meadows  for  about  ten  miles.  The  towTi  is,  as  usual  at 
this  season,  mostly  under  water,  and  as  we  approached  it  had 
something  of  the  air  of  Venice.  The  houses  are  all  of  wood  built 
on  piles,  raised  above  the  ground  or  rather  bog,  and  connected 
w^th  each  other  by  a  kind  of  wooden  bridge.  No  one  but  a  race 
of  fishermen  or  pirates  would  have  chosen  so  unwholesome  a  spot ; 
to  the  ancient  Cossaks,  who  were  both  characters  at  once,  it  was 
certainly  convenient.  The  Churches  are  very  magnificent, 
adorned  with  numberless  treasiu-es  and  military  spoils.  I  have 
never  seen,  even  at  Moscow,  a  gi-eater  profusion  of  pearls  ;  all  the 
pictvu-es,  chandeliers,  and  even  the  Altars  are  loaded  with  them. 
The  appearance  of  the  town  and  people  is  very  novel,  the  Cossak 
dress  being  universally  worn,  even  by  the  judges  and  civil  officers. 
Our  stay  here  will  not  be  long,  the  attaman  (or  '  hetman,'  as  he 

G  g  2 


228  DONSKOY  COSSAKS— ROSTOF. 

CHAP,  is  corruptly  called  in  most  foreign  books)  being  out  of  town.  We 
1806.  have,  however,  found  a  friend  in  the  grand  procurator,  who  speaks 
French,  and  is  by  birth  a  Pole.  We  are  very  conveniently  and 
cleanly  lodged.  The  police-officer  has  promised  us  a  non-commis- 
sioned officer  to  be  our  guide  this  evening  to  a  horde  of  Calmuks, 
who  live  in  the  neighbourhood ;  and  to-morrow  I  believe  we  shall 
continue  our  journey  to  the  Crimea  by  the  Cviban  and  the  Bos- 
phorus.  Our  arrival  in  this  district  has  happened  at  rather  an 
unfortunate  time ;  had  we  been  a  httle  later  we  should  have  seen 
the  Palus  Maeotis  covered  with  vessels, — six  or  seven  hundred  sail 
arriving  every  summer  at  Taganrog,  and  the  whole  river  from 
Tcherkask  to  Azoph  being  like  a  crowded  fair.  We  shall,  however, 
see  the  Crimea  to  more  advantage,  and,  what  is  still  better,  we 
shall  be  a  month  sooner  at  home. 

"  Your  affectionate  brother, 

"  Reginald  Heber." 


TAGANROG  TO  TCHERKASK. 

"  In  the  evening  of  the  Qth  April,  being  Palm  Sunday, 
according  to  the  Russian  calendar,  we  quitted  Taganrog,  and  passed 
along  the  coast,  through  a  tolerably  populous  country,  to  Rostof, 
where  we  arrived  the  next  morning.  As  we  here  re-entered  the 
territories  of  the  Donskoy  Cossaks,  we  were  obliged  to  send  our 
passports  to  the  commandant,  and  had  a  long  delay  about  the 
proper  countersigning  of  our  padorashna,  as  the  attaman  and  the 
commandant  were  both  to  be  consulted.  On  our  return  to  the 
carriages  we  had  a  dispute  with  the  postilion,  who,  because  we  had 
only  a  single  padorashna,  insisted  for  a  long  time  on  putting  all  the 
seven  horses  to  one  carriage  ;  it  is  of  great  importance  to  travellers 
to  have  every  particular  exactly  stated  in  their  padorashna. 

"  Rostof,  sometimes  called  San  Dmitri  Krepost,  from  the  saint 
to  whom  the  fortress  is  dedicated,  is  a  small  and  ill-built  town,  but 
a  place  of  very  important  trade.  Here  it  is  that  the  barks  from 
Voronetz  are  broken  up,  and  the  goods  embarked  from  Taganrog. 


COLONEL  ABRAAMOF.  229 

We  saw  about  sixty  lighters  lying  in  the  river,  many  large  enough  ^y^^- 
to  perform  the  voyage  to  Arabat.  Some  of  these,  which  we  pointed  '""''• 
out,  they  told  us  had  made  voyages  all  the  way  to  Caffa.  There 
is  a  large  brewery,  producing  very  detestable  beer  and  porter ; 
the  distilleries  are  numerous,  and,  if  we  understood  right,  pay  no 
duties  unless  the  spirit  be  sent  inland.  The  banks  of  the  Don  are 
covered  above  by  vineyards,  and  below  by  stinking  sudak,  a  large 
fish,  drying  in  the  sun.  Fish  are  caught  in  great  abundance  and 
variety.  The  principal  kinds  are,  beluga,  sturgeon,  sterlet,  and 
sudak.  There  are  also  myriads  of  Prussian  carp  which,  with  all 
the  reflise  fish,  are  heaped  up  in  great  dunghills  among  the  black 
circular  tents  of  the  Calmuks.  The  Cossaks,  pay  no  duty  on  salt, 
if  it  be  for  their  own  consumption.  The  fortress  is  just  above  the 
town ;  it  is  extensive  but  ill  situated,  there  being  a  deep  valley 
within  two  hundred  yards  of  it,  where  a  besieger  would  be  perfectly 
covered  from  its  fire,  and  could  make  his  approaches  at  his  ease. 
In  it  is  a  small  garrison,  and  a  school  kept  by  an  old  Frenchman  of 
the  name  of  Andre.  He  had  about  twenty  pupils,  who  were 
taught  French,  German,  wi'iting  and  geography ;  they  were  all 
very  little  boys.  We  had  a  letter  to  the  master,  and  found  Tin  old 
man  in  a  sheep-skin,  which  would  have  turned  the  stomach  of  a 
nmshick,  sitting  down  to  dinner  with  his  flock  ;  he  did  not  ask 
us  to  partake,  of  which,  indeed,  we  had  no  great  desire,  as,  from 
the  few  questions  We  asked,  he  seemed  to  know  little  more  of  the 
country  than  ourselves. 

"  A  verst  (by  land,)  from  the  fort  of  Rostof,  is  a  large  Arme- 
nian town  called  Nakitcliivan,  after  the  ancient  town  of  that  name. 
We  spent  the  evening  in  looking  over  it.  They  affirmed  that  it 
contains  1500  famihes,  which  I  think  barely  possible ;  they  are 
chiefly  manufacturers  in  steel  and  leather,  and  are,  apparently, 
industrious  and  prosperous.  The  town  contains  four  Churches, 
and  two  very  large  bazars,  which  are  much  crowded.  We  had 
a  letter  to  one  of  the  prmcipal  inhabitants,  who  had  the  rank 
of  Colonel,  and  whose  son  was  one  of  M.  Andre's  pupils, 
and  our  interpreter.  His  name  was  Abraamof.  I  found  that 
Armenians  usually  expressed  their  names  in  this  manner,  from  the 


230  ARMENIANS. 


CHAP.     Christian  names  of  their  parents,  yet  with  the  termination  in  '  of,' 


VII 


'806.  which  is  a  mark  of  gentihty.  This  man  had  two  sons  in  the 
Russian  navy,  and  possessed  the  reputation  of  great  wealth.  He 
knew  the  Lazarof  who  sold  Orlof  the  great  diamond,  and  described 
in  strong  tenns  the  misery  and  anxiety  which  the  Armenian  felt 
while  it  remained  in  his  possession.  His  house  was  well  furnished, 
and  had  a  billiard-table,  and  many  other  Eiu*opean  luxuries  ;  all  the 
family,  however,  sat  cross-legged,  except  the  master,  whose  dress  also 
was  something  after  the  European  mode.  He  had  several  curious 
sabres  and  poignards  richly  ornamented,  which  he  exhibited  with 
much  pride.  He  said  that  himself  and  the  greater  part  of  his  fellow- 
townsmen  had  emigrated  from  the  Crimea  diu-ing  the  disturbances 
there ;  that  they  had  this  situation  given  them,  and  a  charter,  by 
which  they  had  the  same  privileges  as  their  countrymen  at  Astra- 
chan.  The  principal  trade  of  the  town  is  in  leather.  They  are 
a  very  handsome  people,  have  universally  black  curling  hair,  fair 
and  fresh  complexions,  fine  eyes,  and  generally  aquihne  noses, 
but  with  a  Jewish  expression  in  their  countenance.  The  women 
are  almost  all  veiled ;  but  those  we  caught  a  glimpse  of  were 
extremely  beautiful ;  their  veils  were  very  carelessly  disposed,  and 
they  betrayed  no  timidity.  The  Russians  declare  that  they  have 
all  a  natural  impleasant  odour,  like  that  we  attribute  to  the  Jews. 
They  dislike  them  greatly,  and  have  a  proverb,  '  two  Jews  equal 
one  Armenian;  two  Armenians  one  Greek;  two  Greeks  one 
devil.'  The  Armenians,  it  is  well  known,  are  a  very  favoured  sect" 
by  the  Russian  government ;  and  many  of  the  noblest  families 
have  a  mixture  of  their  blood.  Of  these  are  Dolgorucky  and 
Bagration.  Paul  the  First  gave  the  title  of  '  Knaes'  to  great  numbers 
of  Armenians,  and  permitted  to  all  a  free-trade  and  settlement, 
with  full  Uberty  of  worship,  and  even  of  making  their  proces- 
sions openly.  They  have  a  magnificent  Church  in  Petersburg, 
and  many  in  Astrachan  and  Casan.  Their  enterprise  and  activity  are 
well  known.  Mr.  Anderson,  of  Petersburg,  told  me  he  knew  one 
who  had  been  twice  to  Bassora,  and  once  to  Samarcand  and  Tibet. 
I  asked  Abraamof  if  such  journeys  were  common,  and  if  they  could 
take  a  European  with  them  as  their  servant,  or  in  any  other  dis- 


AXY— DANCE  OF  THE  RING.  231 

guise.  He  answered  both  these  questions  in  the  affirmative.  He  chap. 
himself  had  been  in  Georgia  and  many  parts  of  Turkey,  but  never  '^°*'- 
farther. 

"  Thornton  played  a  game  at  bilhards  with  Abraamof,  and  he, 
very  civilly,  offered  us  beds  ;  but  it  was  in  Lent,  and  he  gave  us 
notliing  but  tea  without  cream,  and  dry  bread ;  so  that  hunger  con- 
spired with  our  eagerness  to  get  on  to  induce  us  to  take  our  leave 
the  same  evening.  We  observed  several  Mahomedans — at  least 
persons  in  gi-een  turbans,  which  no  Armenian  would  wear — but 
unfortunately  we  only  saw  them  after  we  had  taken  leave  of  our 
host,  and  had  no  one  to  ask  about  them. 

"  On  the  evening  of  the  9th  of  April  we  proceeded  to  a  large 
village  about  half-way  between  Nakitchivan  and  Tcherkask,  called 
Axy,  in  a  very  singular  and  picturesque  situation,  containing  about 
one  hundred  and  fifty  houses,  and  one  hundred  Cahuuk  tents,  all 
dirty,  and  wi-etched,  and  stinking  with  fish.  There  were  many 
barks  and  hghters  in  its  ports,  and  it  has  a  large  and  handsome 
Church ;  the  Chui'ches  among  the  Don  Cossaks  are  generally 
rich  and  handsome,  and  well  kept  up.  We  passed  the  night  in 
a  very  decent  kabak  with  a  bilhard  table,  and  a  room  adorned 
with  many  German  engravings,  and  the  English  print  of  the 
death  of  Chevaher  Bayard.  The  Cossaks,  having  never  heard  of 
the  '  Chevalier  sans  reproche,'  called  it  the  death  of  Darius ;  on 
my  asking  if  Bourbon  was  Alexandro  Macedonskoy,  they  answered, 
to  my  sm-prise,  that  he  was  not  present  at  Darius's  death,  and 
showed  themselves  better  acquainted  with  his  history  than  one 
could  have  expected.  Alexander  himself  could  scarcely  have 
hoped  that  his  fame  should  be  so  generally  diffused,  as  to  become 
the  favourite  hero  in  a  village  of  warlike  barbarians  on  the  northern 
banks  of  the  Tanais.  I  had  here  an  opportunity  of  observing, 
what  we  had,  mdeed,  occasionally  seen  in  some  other  villages  of 
Malo-Russia,  the  dance  of  the  ring,  a  very  favourite  one  among  the 
women,  who  alone  dance  it,  accompanying  their  motions  with  a  low 
plaintive  song  ;  it  consists  in  hiding  a  ring  and  himting  for  it,  some- 
tliing  like  our  '  hunt  the  slipper.'     Some  parts  of  the  figure  much 


232  TCHERKASK— CATHEDRAL. 

CHAP,    resemble  the    *  Polonaise  rondo.'     The  most  common  dance   in 

VII. 

'806.      Great  Russia,  is  performed  by  two  persons,  and  is  one  of  the  most 
beautiful  successions  of  elegant  attitudes  I  have  ever  seen,  except 

in  antiques. 

"  The  whole  north  part  of  the  Don  is  populous ;  the  greater 
part  of  the  Delta  was  still  overflowed  from  the  melting  of  the  snow ; 
and  we  were  obliged  to  make  the  rest  of  our  journey  to  Tcherkask 
the  next  morning  in  a  bark.  Tcherkask,  the  capital  of  the 
Cossaks  of  the  Don,  is  an  ancient  and  considerable  town,  and  one 
of  the  most  singular  in  the  world;  it  stands  on  some  marshy 
islands  in  the  river,  and  so  low  that  three-fourths  of  the  houses  are 
annually  under  water ;  they  are  built  on  wooden  pillars,  and  the 
communication  from  one  to  another  is  preserved  by  a  kind  of  gal- 
lery or  balcony,  also  raised  on  posts  and  running  before  the  houses. 
It  is  excellently  suited  to  the  piracies  and  fishery  of  the  ancient 
Cossaks  ;  but  its  situation  is  so  exceedingly  unwholesome,  that  the 
emperor  has  begun  a  new  town  on  the  high  land  on  the  northern 
bank  of  the  river,  behind  the  ruins  of  Fort  Anna.  The  people  are, 
however,  obstinately  attached  to  their  ancient  spot.  When  we  saw 
it,  every  part  was  flooded  except  the  principal  street,  the  great 
Church,  and  the  market-place ;  and  the  wooden  cabins,  mixed 
with  the  domes  of  Churches,  tops  of  trees,  and  Calmuk  tents, 
had  an  interesting  effect  just  rising  from  the  water.  The  sudak 
still  continued  to  poison  the  air ;  but  the  houses,  notwithstanding 
the  people  are  all  fishers,  are  neat ;  the  Cossaks  are,  certainly,  a 
much  cleaner  race  than  the  Russians. 

"  There  is  a  spacious  and  ancient  Cathedral  nearly  on  the 
same  plan  as  the  Casan  Church  at  Moscow,  with  a  high  tower 
detached  from  the  rest  of  the  buikhng,  which,  at  a  distance,  gives 
a  faint  recollection  of  St.  Mary's  spire  at  Oxford.  There  are 
many  other  Churches  full  of  very  costly  ornaments.  I  never  saw 
so  many  pearls  at  once  as  on  the  head  of  a  Madonna  in  the 
Cathedral  ;  these  treasures  are  the  spoils  of  Turkey  and  Poland. 
To  the  east  of  the  Cathedral  is  a  large  basin  which  seems  intended 
to  preserve  the  barks  and  lighters  during  inundations ;  it  is  divided 


SHOPS— MAHOMEDANS.  233 

from  the  main  stream  and  opens  into  a  smaller  arm  of  the  river  (  hap. 
which  flows  through  the  town,  and  is  crossed  by  a  wooden  bridge.  isotl. 
A  little  to  the  west  is  a  spacious  square  where  the  government- 
house,  a  handsome  and  large  building,  stands.  Further  still  are 
the  bazars,  a  large  square  of  wooden  buildings  of  only  one  floor^ 
with  wooden  arcades  on  the  outside,  and  intersected  by  several 
narrow  and  dark  passages.  Beyond  are  the  houses  with  the 
connecting  galleries  and  the  bridges,  with  a  mixture  of  Churches 
on  every  spot  of  solid  ground.  The  river  had  a  great  many 
vessels  on  it,  and  many  which  were  calculated  to  go  to  Taman 
or  CafFa. 

"  The  shops  contained  many  articles  of  showy  but  coarse  fur- 
niture, bad  English  prints,  tawdry  looking-glasses,  &c.  which  a  good 
deal  resembled  the  taste  of  our  English  sailors ;  and  there  was  in 
many  of  the  houses  a  sort  of  vulgar  showy  style  of  ornament  which 
corresponded  to  this  impression.  Their  uniforms,  mdeed,  showed 
the  same  fondness  for  ornament,  as  well  as  the  women's  dresses, 
and  the  boats  belonging  to  the  attaman,  master  of  police,  &c.  which 
were  very  neatly  gilded  and  carved, 

"  Tcherkask  has  a  large  and  rather  handsome  town-house  on 
the  edge  of  the  river ;  all  the  persons  we  saw  belonging  to  it  wore 
the  summer  uniform  of  jacket  and  trousers  ;  the  winter  uniform  is 
a  blue  kaftan,  like  that  of  the  ordinary  Russians.  Both  dresses  are 
very  costly,  of  English  cloth,  and  embroidered  with  silver,  with  a 
silver  epaulette  on  the  left  shoulder,  worn  even  by  the  non-com- 
missioned officers  and  privates  '.  All  this  gaudy  furniture,  as  well 
as  their  amis  and  horses,  is  found  at  their  own  expence.  There 
are  in  one  quarter  of  the  town,  to  the  north-east  of  the  bridge,  a 
good  many  Mahomedan  families,  who  are  subject  to  the  same  laws 
and  regulations  as  the  other  Cossaks.  The  women  seemed  to  have 
very  little  apprehension  of  showing  their  faces,  and  the  veil  was 
often  thrown  over  the  back  of  the  head ;  the  men  were  strong- 
limbed,  with  Tartar,  not  Calmuk,  countenances.     They  have  a 

'  One  regiment  which  we  saw  afterwards  under  General  Nicholson  at  Tulchin  in  Poland, 
had  a  magnificent  scarlet  pelisse  embroidered  with  gold. 
VOL.  I.  H    h 


234  MANNERS  AND  APPEARANCE  OF  THE  COSSAKS. 

CHAP,  mean  wooden  mosque.  Green,  which  ought  to  be  the  peculiar  colour 
180C.  of  ii^Q  descendants  of  Mohamed,  is  here  worn  by  all  the  imams  and 
even  by  others.  The  Calmuk  population  in  and  near  Tcherkask 
is  considerable ;  a  great  many  families  live  on  the  hills  between 
it  and  Lugan.  One  tribe  is  very  considerable,  having  a  mirza  and 
a  grand  lama.  We  made  many  attempts  to  procure  a  guide  to 
conduct  us  to  them  ;  but  the  distance,  we  were  told,  was  great ;  and 
owing  to  the  stupidity  of  the  people  in  Tcherkask,  we  failed  in  all 
ovir  plans  and  hopes  of  finding  some  one  who  knew  in  what  part  of 
the  steppe  they  were.  The  Calmuk  servants  are  greatly  esteemed 
all  over  Russia  for  their  fidelity  and  intelligence. 

"  Most  of  the  richer  Cossaks  have  houses  in  Tcherkask,  which 
they  make  their  metropoHs,  but  pass  the  greater  part  of  their  time 
in  their  farms  on  the  northern  bank  of  the  river.  Platof,  the  atta- 
man,  said  he  kept  there  two  hundred  brood  mares.  He  had,  how- 
ever, no  land  in  tillage,  though  he  possessed  a  vineyard,  a  little  to 
the  east  of  Axy.  Of  the  wine  produced  by  these  vineyards,  they 
vaunted  greatly.  The  best  always  struck  me  as  being  mixed  with 
Greek  wine,  or  raisins.  The  ordinary  wines  are  very  poor  and  taste- 
less ;  spirits  are  cheap  and  much  drunk.  Platof  himself  took  a  glass 
of  brandy  with  a  spoonful  of  salt  in  it,  as  if  brandy  was  hardly  strong 
enough. 

"  The  manners  of  the  people  struck  us  from  their  superiority 
to  the  Russians  in  honesty  and  dignity.  A  lieutenant  at  Petersburg, 
who  once  begged  alms  from  us,  bowed  himself  to  the  ground  and 
knocked  his  head  on  the  floor.  A  lieutenant  here  who  was  im- 
prisoned and  also  begged,  made  the  request  in  a  manly  and  digni- 
fied manner,  and  thanked  us  as  if  we  had  been  his  conu-ades.  We 
fomid,  too,  the  demands  for  lodging  and  for  articles  in  the  shops 
were  reasonable,  and  that  they  were  not,  as  in  Russia,  in  the  habit 
of  cheapening  commodities.  We  had  already  observed  that  a 
Cossak  postilion  would  drive  no  faster  than  his  usual  custom,  and 
was,  on  this  point  as  impracticable  as  a  German. 

"  Both  men  and  women  are  handsome,   and  taller  than  the 
Muscovites ;  this  name  they  hold  in  great  contempt,  as  we  had 


ARMIES  OF  THE  DON.  -235 

several  opportunities  of  observing.  The  procurator,  a  Pole  by  c"ap. 
birth,  the  physician,  the  apothecary,  both  Germans,  the  master  ^soa 
of  the  academy,  and  the  post-master,  being  distinguished  by  their 
dress  and  nation  from  the  Cossaks,  seemed  to  have  formed  a  coterie 
of  their  own,  and  to  dislike  and  be  disliked  by  the  whole  town. 
The  post-master  said  they  were  much  improved  since  he  first  came 
there ;  that  at  that  time  they  would  have  pelted  any  stranger.  We 
saw  nothing  of  this  kind,  except  that  when  we  first  landed  from 
our  bark,  some  boys  cried  out,  '  Moscofsky  canaille.'  '  Canaille' 
has  become  a  naturalized  word  in  Russia. 

"  The  internal  government  of  Tcherkask  is  exercised,  under 
the  attaman,  by  a  master  of  police  and  a  chancery  of  four  jier- 
sons.  The  procm-ator,  who  is  never  a  Cossak,  exercises  the  offices 
of  comptroller  of  their  accounts,  and  visitor  of  the  prisons  and  public 
buikhngs,  and  revises  their  judicial  sentences.  The  master  of 
police  and,  on  some  solemn  occasions,  the  attaman  is  distinguished 
by  a  large  staff,  with  a  silver  fillagree  head,  resembling  that  of  a 
di'um-major. 

"  The  government  of  the  armies  of  the  Don  (the  legal  style) 
differs  in  many  respects  from  the  ancient  Malo-Russian,  and  has 
lately  suffered  repeated  encroachments.  The  name  of  Cossak, 
which  we  heard  variously  explained,  was  most  satisfactorily  so  by 
Platof,  who  said  that  '  coss,'  w^hich  signified  any  crooked  weapon, 
such  as  a  scythe  or  sabre,  was  given  them  from  the  form  of  their 
swords.  The  present  establishments  are,  one  of  about  four  thou- 
sand men  who  have  lands  near  Charkof ;  a  second  on  the  Dnieper, 
but  I  could  not  learn  m  what  part  or  in  what  number.  In  Poland 
is  a  tliird  establisluiient  of  almost  the  same  kind,  wliich  is,  however, 
not  so  numerous ;  they  are  Mahomedans,  of  an  ancient  Nogay 
tribe,  who  have  been  settled  there  for  some  centuries,  and  still 
retain  their  religion  and  their  habit  of  eating  raw  flesh.  They 
were  formerly  taken  into  the  Polish  service  as  '  uhlans,'  a  Polish 
word  merely  signifying  light-horse,  and  still  keep  their  distinction 
and  their  privileges  ;  they  have  the  same  allowance  as  the  Cossaks 
and  the  same  obligation  to  service.     Fourthly,  all  over  Siberia  are 

II  h  2 


236  COSSAKS  OF  THE  DON. 

CHAP,    scattered   a  nuiltitude  of  barbarous  Cossaks,  who  do  the  same 
180C-      duties,  but  whose  allowances  are  less.     Among  them  the  people 
of  the  Yaik,  since  changed  to  Ural,  were  the  most  formidable  sup- 
porters of  Pugatchef     Fifthly,  are  the  Zaporogians,   but  more  of 
them  hereafter.    To  return  to  the  Cossaks  of  the  Don ;  their  terri- 
tory, which  is  almost  entirely  pasture  land,   extends  upwards  of 
350  versts  in  length,  on  both  sides  of  the  Don ;  in  its  widest  part 
its  extent  may  be  300 ;  it  is  divided  into  stanitzas  or  cantons  ;  for 
many  stanitzas  now  contain  more  than  a  single  village.     To  each  of 
these  a  certain  portion  of  land  and  fishery  is  allotted  by  government, 
and  an  annual  allowance  of  corn  from  Voronetz  and  northwards 
according  to  the  returned  number  of  Cossaks.     They  are  free  from 
all  taxes  ;  even  from  those  of  salt  and  distilleries.     The  distribu- 
tion of  land  to  the  individuals  in  each  stanitza  is  settled  by  the 
inhabitants  and  their  attaman.      This  attaman  was  chosen  by  the 
people,  and  was  both  civil  and  military  commander  of  the  place. 
Paul  had  laid  some  restrictions  on  this  right,   which  I  could  not 
understand,  and  took  every  other  means  of  breaking  their  spirit. 
He  had  also  ennobled  the  children  of  all  who  had  the  military  rank 
of  colonel,  which  was  complained  of  as  introducing  an  unconsti- 
tutional aristocracy.     This  step  of  establishing  a  hereditary  nobi- 
lity has  been  productive  of  very  bad  effects  in  taking  away  the 
military  spirit  of  a  government,  where  all  were  formerly  equal, 
or  had  only  a  temporary,  but  absolute  power,  when  elected  officers. 
At  present  these  new-made  nobles  affect  to  have  several  privileges 
in  the  service,  and  claim  a  constant  preference  in  the  succession  to 
vacant  commissions.     From  these  attamans  an  appeal  lies  to  the 
chancery  at  Tcherkask.      They  used  to  elect  their  attaman  there, 
and  to  appeal  to  him  only,  assembling  occasionally  as  a  check  on 
his  conduct ;  but  he  is  now  appointed  by  the  crown,  and  his  power 
is  greatly  diminished.     The  allotment  of  land  and  fishery  which 
each  Cossak  possesses  may  be  let  out  by  him  to  farm,  and  often  is 
so ;  and  it  is  a  frequent  abuse  to  insert  the  names  of  children  in 
the  return  of  Cossaks,  to  entitle  them  to  their  seniority  in  becom- 
ing officers.     I  met  with  a  child  thus  favoured.     This  has  taken 


COSSAKS  OF  THE  DON— PROCURATOR.  237 


place  since  the  Cossaks,  when  called  out,  have  been  formed  mto    chap. 

.  .  .  >VII. 

regular  regiments,  which  has  depressed  entu-ely  the  power  of  the  i^oc. 
village  attaman,  by  the  introduction  of  colonels,  captains,  &c. 
Formerly  the  attaman  was  addressed  in  the  emperor's  mandates 
almost  as  an  equal ;  he  himself  marched  at  the  head  of  his  stanitza  ; 
now  he  merely  sends  the  required  contingent,  which  is  put  under 
officers  named  by  the  crown. 

"  The  Cossak,  in  consequence  of  his  allowance,  may  be  called 
on  to  serve  for  any  term,  not  exceeding  three  years,  in  any  part  of 
tlie  world,  mounted,  armed,  and  clothed  at  his  own  expence,  and 
making  good  any  deficiencies  which  may  occur.  Food,  pay,  and 
camp-equipage  are  furnished  by  government.  Those  who  have 
served  three  years  are  not  Hable,  or  at  least  not  usually  called  upon, 
to  serve  abroad,  except  on  particular  emergencies.  They  serve, 
however,  m  the  cordon  along  the  Caucasus,  and  in  the  duties  of 
the  police.  After  twenty  years  they  become  free  from  all  service, 
except  the  home-duties  of  pohce,  and  assisting  in  the  passage  of  the 
corn-bai-ks  over  the  shallows  in  the  Don.  After  twenty-five  years' 
service  they  are  free  entirely. 

"  The  procm-ator  declai-ed  the  whole  number  of  Cossaks  liable 
to  be  called  on  for  one  or  more  of  these  services,  amounted  to 
200,000.  He  acknowledged  that  as  they  would  allow  of  no 
examination  into  their  numbers,  he  spoke  only  fi-om  conjecture, 
and  from  the  difierent  allowances  of  corn,  &c.  occasionally  made. 
The  whole  number  of  the  male  population  he  reckoned  at  half  a 
million.  The  office  of  procurator  has  been  often  mentioned ;  he  is 
a  kind  of  comptroller  or  visitor,  appointed  to  watch  over  the  execu- 
tion of  the  laws,  to  examine  the  decisions  of  the  com-ts  of  justice, 
to  visit  the  prisons,  attend  the  executions,  &c.  He  is  generally  a 
native  of  a  diiferent  province  from  that  wherein  he  is  stationed. 
At  Tcherkask  he  is  always  a  Russian  ;  at  least  not  a  Cossak.  The 
situation  of  a  Cossak  is  considered  as  comfortable;  and  their  obli- 
gations to  service  are  deemed  well  repaid  by  their  privileges  and 
their  freedom.  '  Free  as  a  Cossak'  is  a  proverb  which  we  have  often 
heard  in  Russia ;  and  they  are  apparently  much  happier  than  the 


•238  COSSAKS  OF  THE  DON— ARMIES. 

CHAP,  other  Russians.  As  troops  I  cannot  conceive  them  good ;  they 
'^*>'^-  are  no  longer  wild  and  warlike  savages — they  have  lost  their  habits 
of  Scythian  warfare  without  acquiring  discipline,  and  are  now  little 
better  than  peasants  on  horseback.  When  they  have  been  some 
time  in  service  they,  of  course,  become  like  other  troops,  except 
that,  by  all  accounts,  they  are  more  addicted  to  plunder.  They 
have,  however,  a  strong  esprit  de  corps,  and  despise  the  Russians 
most  cordially.  The  number  of  Cossak  guards,  who  are  all 
Donskoy,  amounts  to  three  regiments  of  a  thousand  each ;  the 
number  employed  in  Persia  and  Caucasus  I  could  not  learn.  In 
the  year  1805,  a  corps  of  seventy- two  regiments,  of  560  men  each, 
marched  under  Platof,  the  attaman  of  Tcherkask ;  but  received 
counter-orders,  as  it  did  not  arrive  in  time  for  the  battle  of  Aus- 
terlitz.  At  AusterHtz  only  six  hundred  Cossak  guards  were 
present '.  These  Cossaks,  Platof  said,  had  suffered  dreadfully,  as 
they  were  for  some  time  the  only  cavalry  with  the  Russian  army; 
and  before  the  emperor  joined  Kutusof,  they  had  lost  almost  all  their 
horses  with  fatigue.  During  the  quarrel  of  Paul  with  England,  he 
assembled  45,000  Cossaks,  as  it  was  believed  at  Tcherkask,  to 
march  to  India.  I  saw  the  plan  was  not  at  all  unpopular  with 
Platof  and  his  officers.  Platof 's  predecessor  was  the  last  attaman 
who  was  in  possession  of  all  his  ancient  privileges.  He  had  often, 
by  his  own  authority,  bound  men  hand  and  foot  and  thrown  them 
into  the  Don.  He  was  unexpectedly  seized  and  carried  off  by  the 
orders  of  the  empress  (Catherine),  and  was  succeeded,  as  general 
of  the  armies  of  the  Don,  by  MafFei  Ivanovitch  Platof,  a  fine  civil 
old  soldier,  with  the  great  cordon  of  St.  Anne.  Our  hostess,  the 
wife  of  an  old  Cossak  major,  told  us  that  when  a  boy,  Platof  had 
kept  his  father-in-law's  horses,  and  had  been  raised  entirely  from 
merit.  This  story  was  contradicted  by  Anton  Josipovitsk,  but  of 
the  two  I  am  not  sure  whether  the  old  woman  was  not  most 
worthy  of  credit. 

"  Education  among  the  Cossaks  is  not  so  low  as  is  generally 

'  The  peasants  near  Austerlitz  spoke  of  them  as  objects  of  considerable  apprehension  to 
the  French  cavalry ;  particularly  the  cuirassiers  whose  horses  were  more  unwieldy. 


SHOOTING  PARTi— SEPULCHRAL  CROSSES.  239 

thought,  and  it  miproves  daily.     All  the  children  of  officers  are    chap. 
sent  to  the  academy  of  Tcherkask,  and  learn  French,  German,  &c.      ^^oo. 
It  was  holiday  time  when  we  were  there,  but  their  progress  was 
well  spoken  of. 

"  During  our  stay  at  Tcherkask  we  went  out  on  a  shooting 
party,  which  was  ridiculous  enough,  as  it  chiefly  consisted  of  a 
ramble  among  orchards  and  cabbage  gardens,  and  shooting  spar- 
rows and  field-fares.  Our  companions  were  the  procurator  and  a 
Cossak  captain ;  the  former  had  some  pointers  and  two  very 
beautiful  Turkish  gvuis.  This  man  was  a  Pole,  and  hated  the  Cos- 
saks  mortally ;  excepting  the  captain  whom  I  have  just  mentioned, 
his  whole  society  consisted  of  the  man  at  the  post-office,  a  Russian, 
an  old  Dutch  physician,  and  a  German  apothecary.  The  Cossak 
captain  was  a  veiy  fine  young  man ;  he  understood  no  language 
save  his  own,  but  had  read  a  good  deal,  and  was  very  well 
instructed  as  far  as  this  would  carry  him. 

"  We  had  heard  the  Cossaks  charged  with  drunkenness  and 
sloth,  but  had  no  reason  to  assent  to  this  opinion,  though  we  saw 
them  during  the  licence  of  the  Easter  holidays.  The  procurator 
accused  the  old  people  among  them  of  great  coarseness  and  aver- 
sion to  strangers ;  but  he  was  evidently  prejudiced  against  them. 
There  was,  perhaps,  no  great  reason  to  wonder  that,  though  a 
good-natured  man,  they  had  found  no  delight  in  courting  his 
society. 

"  The  neighbourhood  of  Tcherkask  is  full  of  the  sepulchral 
crosses  raised  over  the  tombs  of  the  Roskolniki  ;  this  sect 
amounts  to  nearly  a  third  of  the  Cossak  population.  I  en- 
quired several  times  how  far  they  were  tolerated,  and  was 
uniformly  assured  that  they  were  not  allowed  the  public  exer- 
cise of  their  religion.  About  Voronetz  we  were  told  they  are 
also  numerous,  and  are  there  burdened  with  a  double  capitation 
tax.  This  we  heard  often,  though  it  contradicts  all  I  had  been 
tauffht  to  think  of  Russian  toleration.  When  we  asked  about 
their  religious  tenets,  as  we  had  only  their  enemies  to  inform  us,  we 
merely  heard  strange  stories  about  their  impiety  and  rebellions. 


•240  EASTER  CEREMONIES. 

CHAP.    They  are  allowed  to  wear  their  beards,  which  the  other  Cossaks 

^^"'^-      cut  off  without  a  scruple. 

"  Durmg  our  stay  in  Tcherkask  we  had  an  opportunity  of 
seeing  the  ceremonies  of  Easter,  and  of  observing  the  great  devo- 
tion with  which  the  Cossaks  celebrate  Good-Friday,  Easter-eve, 
and  Easter-Sunday.  On  Good-Friday  the  people  assembled  in 
a  vast  crowd  in  one  of  the  principal  Churches,  all  with  lighted 
tapers  in  their  hands.  After  the  usual  service  a  species  of  bier, 
covered  with  a  rich  embroidered  pall,  having  the  small  figure  of  a 
dead  Christ  represented  on  it,  was  carried  in  procession  fi'om 
behind  the  Altar  and  set  down  in  the  Chm-ch,  during  which  time 
some  appropriate  chapters  in  the  Slavonic  tongue  were  read.  To 
all  these  offices  the  people  attended  with  exemplary  seriousness 
and  great  apparent  devotion.  The  procession  then  moved  to  the 
great  Church,  singing  hymns,  and  followed  by  all  the  principal 
persons  in  the  town  with  their  tapers.  As  the  bier  passed,  the  people 
bowed  and  crossed  themselves.  In  the  balcony  of  one  of  the  best 
houses  were  assembled  a  whole  family,  who  distinguished  them- 
selves by  their  devotion  ;  one  of  the  daughters  threw  herself  down 
and  touched  the  floor  mth  her  head,  kissing  it  repeatedly  in  token 
of  humility.  When  the  procession  arrived  at  the  Cathedral 
another  service  took  place,  when  all  the  priests  and  the  principal 
persons  in  the  congregation  advanced,  one  by  one,  and  kissed  the 
feet  of  the  embroidered  picture  of  Christ  on  the  bier.  The  service 
ended  with  a  sermon  ;  the  preacher  was  a  very  rustic  looking  man, 
but  he  preached  with  energy  and  with  some  apparent  effect. 

"  The  day  following  was  also  a  rigid  fast,  and  passed  in  nearly 
the  same  offices.  At  night  all  the  Churches  were  illuminated,  and 
all  were  crowded,  particularly  the  Cathedral ;  the  congregations 
were  dressed  in  theii*  best  clothes,  and  held  lighted  tapers  in  their 
hands.  The  effijct  produced  was  very  solemn  and  magnificent. 
The  priests  and  choir  alternately  continued  singing  plaintive  solemn 
hymns ;  we  observed  that  the  same  hymns  occurred  repeatedly. 
The  priests  stood  in  ranks  on  each  side  the  steps  of  the  Altar,  all  in 
their  most  magnificent  habits  ;  and  the  choir  was  placed  in  a  very 


EASTER  CEREMONIES.  241 

high  gallery  at  the  west  end.      The   congregation  were  attentive,     chap. 
and  showed  wonderful  patience ;  many,  I  think,  remained  there  the      i"""- 
whole  night  without  any  rest  or  change  of  attitude,  except  from 
standing  to  prostration.   The  priests  made  several  processions  round 
the  Church,  carrying  the  great  cross,  the  Bible,  &c.,  and  occasion- 
ally incensed  the  people,  and  received  their  offerings  in  a  silver 
plate.     I  did  not  observe  that  any  large  sums  were  given,  and  we 
understood  that  their  principal  harvest  at  this  season  was  made  by 
going  from  house  to  house,  when  the  people  gave  very  bountifully. 
At  the  moment  of  day-break  a  cannon  was  fired,  at  which  signal  all 
the  bells  in  the  town  rang,  and  the  choir  burst  into  a  loud  hymn  : 
'  Christos  voskress,'  Christ  is  risen.     To  which  the  chorus  of  priests 
below  answered,  'Yes,  He  is  indeed  risen  !'     They  then  embraced 
each  other  and  kissed  a  cross,  which  they  presented  first  to  the 
attaman,  and  then  to  all  such  of  the  congregation  as  were  fortunate 
enough  to  get  near  it.    After  this  the  service  began  for  Easter-day; 
the  Sacrament  was  administered,  and  a  sermon  preached.    The  old 
attaman,  who  had  come  into  the  town  on  purpose,  and  had  re- 
mained in  Church  with  his  officers  the  whole  of  the  night,  stood  in 
the  aisle  like  all  the  rest,  but  distinguished  by  his  red  riband  and 
the  badge  of  his  authority,  a  long  ebony  staff,  with  a  round  silver 
head,  something  like  a  melon.     After  the  sermon  the  priests  dis- 
tributed small  cakes  of  consecrated  bread;  and  the  people  presented 
eggs  to  each  other,  accompanied  by  the  addi-ess,  *  Christ  is  risen,' 
which  was  always  answered  by  an  embrace,  and  the  answer,  '  Yes, 
He  is  indeed.'     This  is  the  only  salutation  allowed  during  the 
weeks  immediately  succeeding  Easter,  and  all  are  in  this  respect 
on  an  equality.     The  empress  herself  durst  not  refuse  the  kiss  of  a 
slave,  when  accompanied  with  a  hard  egg  and  this  exclamation. 
The  eggs  are  generally  prepared  some  days  before,  and  are  curi- 
ously painted  and  gilt.    To  foreigners  the  Russians  in  the  southern 
part  of  the  empire  say  always,  XpiaroQ  avsart],  as  the  Greeks  are  the 
foreigners  of  whom  they  see  the  most.     The  rest  of  the  day  was 
spent  in  amusement  and  feasting.     We  all  went  to  the  attaman's 
house,  where  we  found  an  immense  Easter  cake,  a  cold  ham,  and 
VOL.  I.  I  i 


24-2  DONSKOY  WINE. 


CHAP,     several  other  good  things,   with  plenty  of  brandy  and  Donskoy 


VII 


1806.  wine  on  a  large  table  ;  this  was  about  nine  in  the  morning.  The 
Church  choristers  attended,  and  sang  the  Easter  hymn ;  till  this 
was  finished,  and  grace  had  been  said  by  the  bishop,  nobody 
touched  the  victuals.  Afterwards  they  fell  to  with  a  famous  appe- 
tite, as  might  be  expected  in  men  who  had  not  tasted  meat  for 
forty  days.  The  band  were  in  a  very  handsome  scarlet  uniform. 
Several  officers  from  seven  or  eight  regiments,  which  happened  to 
be  on  their  return  that  day  from  Poland,  came  in  with  the  rest  of 
the  guests,  and  among  them  was  the  Platof's  son.  His  father  re- 
ceived him  with  great  dignity,  not  as  a  father,  but  as  a  commander- 
in-chief,  till,  after  a  few  minutes'  conversation,  he  called  him  to  an 
inner  room,  where  the  door  remaining  half  open,  I  saw  him  embrace 
him  with  great  tenderness.  About  noon  the  attaman  returned  to 
his  house  in  a  handsome  ten-oared  bai-ge.  These  barges  are  the 
principal  articles  of  luxury  in  which  Cossak  chiefs  indulge ;  their 
rowers  are  all  syjlendidly  dressed,  and  their  prows  profusely  carved 
and  gilded.  All  day  the  streets  of  Tcherkask  were  full  of  well- 
dressed  women,  d.  la  Cosaque.  The  dress  is  elegant ;  a  silk  tunic 
and  trousers  fastened  with  a  girdle  of  solid  silver,  yellow  boots, 
and  an  Indian  handkerchief  round  the  head.  Many  wore  a  vast 
quantity  of  pearls.  One  lady,  the  wife  of  a  lieutenant-colonel,  was 
di-essed  after  what  she  supposed  the  Moscow  fashion  ;  but  she  was 
the  only  exception  ;  and  our  friend,  the  Cossak  captain,  did  not 
seem  to  approve  of  this  departure  from  the  national  costume.  We 
walked  about  almost  the  whole  evening,  but,  notwithstanding  all 
the  stories  we  had  heard  of  Cossak  brutahty,  we  saw  nothing  of 
the  kind. 

"  The  Donskoy  wine  is  sometimes  very  pleasant,  but  is,  I 
suspect,  a  fabrication  ;  I  tasted  some  that  was  warranted  genuine, 
which  I  could  easily  beheve  to  be  so ;  it  was,  indeed, 

As  wicked  dew  as  Sycorax  could  brush 
With  raven's  feather  from  unwholesome  fen. 

"  It  is  worth  observing  that  the  master  of  the  post-office  con- 


TCHERKASK.  24S 

sidered  the  Russian  posi  as  so  insecure,  that  he  advised  me  to  f""A'' 
enclose  a  letter  home  to  Messrs.  Rovvand  at  Moscow,  who  would  i^o"- 
take  care  of  it. 

"  Tcherkask  is  a  place  of  considerable  trade  in  the  way  of 
lighterage,  and  sends  many  small  vessels  to  Kertch,  Taman,  Mari- 
nopol,  and  even  to  Caffa.  There  is  a  sort  of  harbour  contrived 
in  the  town,  and  fenced  off  from  the  river,  in  which  floods  are  rapid 
and  might  be  dangerous.  The  fortress  of  St.  Anna  Kreposte, 
built  by  Peter  the  Great,  is  now  dismantled  ;  it  never  could  have 
been  a  very  formidable  place,  and  was,  in  fact,  only  wanted  against 
the  Turks ;  in  spring  and  autumn  it  must  have  been  inaccessible 
owing  to  the  floods. 

"  All  the  stories  of  the  impossibility  of  travelling  in  Russia 
during  a  feast  time  are  greatly  exaggerated ;  and  are  probably 
chiefly  dra^Mi  from  the  excessive  profligacy  of  a  Petersburg  mob.  I 
do  not  think  that  the  people  in  the  other  parts  of  Russia  are  more 
given  to  intoxication  than  the  English." 

2'o  Richard  Heher,  Esq. 

Phanagoria,  in  the  Island  of  Taman, 
April -20,  1806. 

"  My  Dear  Brother, 

"  I  had  hoped  to  pass  my  birth-day  in  the  Crimea ; 
but  we  have  met  with  so  many  delays  that  it  is  daily  growing  less 
probable,  and,  as  you  will  see  by  the  date,  almost  decided  that  I 
cannot.  For  though  the  Bosphorus  is  now  before  me,  and  the 
opposite  shore  is  only  a  very  few  miles  distant,  the  wind  is  unfor- 
timately  contrary,  and,  what  is  still  more  unfortunate,  there  is  no 
boat  now  in  the  harbour  sufficiently  large  to  contain  our  two  car- 
riages with  convenience.  Under  such  circumstances,  my  general, 
and  always  my  pleasantest,  resource  is  to  write  home  ;  and  as  our 
last  fortnight  has  been  spent  in  countries  very  interesting  and  not 
very  often  traversed,  I  find  sufficient  materials  for  a  letter.  Our 
stay  in  Tcherkask  was  much  more  interesting  than  we  had  hoped, 
from  the  return  of  the  attaman,  a  fine  dignified  old  warrior,  and  from 

I  i  2 


•244  TENURE  OF  LAND. 

CHAP,     the  celebration  of  the  Easter  festival,  when  all  the  great  ceremo- 


1800. 


nies,  and  all  the  finery  and  merriment  of  ,the  Cossaks  were  at  their 
height.  The  elegance  of  a  European  ball-room  produces,  indeed, 
a  very  trifling  effect  in  comparison  with  the  gaudy  and  barbarous 
splendour  of  these  remote  pi'ovinces.  The  men  were  all  in  full 
uniform  Avith  a  profusion  of  silver  ornaments.  The  dress  of  a 
Cossak  girl  consists  of  yellow  morocco  boots,  silk  trousers  of  the 
same  colovu-,  or  sometimes  of  pink  and  silver,  a  silk  night-gown, 
generally  pink  or  green,  girt  very  gracefully  with  a  silver  cestus, 
which  those  in  richer  circumstances  ornament  with  pearls.  The 
head  is  simply  bound  with  an  Indian  handkerchief,  and  the  hair  is 
plaited  and  hangs  down  the  back  The  midnight  scene  in  the 
Cathedral  Church  on  Easter-eve,  where  some  thousands  of  these 
gaudy  figures  were  assembled,  each  holding  a  taper,  the  dim  light 
of  which  served  to  harmonize  what  would  else  have  been  too 
glaring ;  the  soft  plaintive  chaunt  of  the  choir,  and  their  sudden 
change  at  the  moment  of  day-break,  to  the  full  chorus  of  '  Christ 
is  risen,'  were  altogether  what  a  poet  or  a  painter  would  have 
studied  with  delight.  The  salutations  of  the  succeeding  day  were 
equally  curious,  *  *  * 

"  The  Easter  week  is  given  up  to  amusement ;  but  though 
we  had  heard  much  of  the  profligacy  of  the  Cossaks,  there  was 
certainly  far  less  drunkenness  and  rioting  than  on  an  English  holi- 
day. And  though  I  walked  through  the  town  pretty  late  at  night, 
I  saw  not  a  single  battle. 

The  character,  government,  and  actual  situation  of  this 
singular  race,  who  occupy  a  territory,  (including  that  of  their  bre- 
thren the  Zaporogians,)  perhaps  almost  as  large  as  England,  and 
can  produce,  in  case  of  need,  a  force  of  seventy  or  eighty  thou- 
sand horsemen, — is,  if  I  remember  right,  very  well,  though  shortly 
described  in  Tooke.  Their  land,  which  is  much  greater  than  their 
population  requires,  is  divided  into  equal  shares,  to  one  of  which 
every  Cossak  may  lay  claim  as  soon  as  he  can  bear  arms.  The 
officers  have  double  or  treble  shares.  They  were  formerly  elective, 
but  are  now,  except  the  Chiefs  of  villages,  appointed  by  the  atta- 


COSSAKS.  245 

man  of  Tcherkask,  and  confirmed  by  the  crown,  which  now  also    ^hap. 

VII. 

appoints  the  attaman  himself.     Nobility  is  unknown  among  them ;      i"""- 
and  '  free  as  a  Cossak'  is  still  a  proverb  throughout  Russia.     They 
are  exempt  from  all  capitation ;  and  their  distilleries,  salt-works, 
and  manufactories  are  duty  free.  *  *  * 

Their  uniform  is  very  splendid,  being,  with  a  few  variations,  the 
ancient  Russian-  habit :  the  favourite  weapon  is  a  long  lance, 
which  they  do  not  know  how  to  wield.  In  this  present  war  they 
have  contributed  forty-five  regiments,  of  550  rank  and  file.  Among 
these  about  a  seventh  part  were  Calmuks.  These  people  are 
maintained  on  the  same  footing,  having  similar  allotments  of  land. 
They  still,  however,  adhere  to  the  camels,  the  tents,  and  the  mares' 
milk  of  their  Mongul  ancestors  ;  and,  in  the  midst  of  Greeks,  con- 
tiime  to  worship  the  Delai  Lama.  Their  tents  -are  generally 
pitched  among  the  reeds  and  mud ;  the  lattice-work  which  com- 
poses the  sides,  is  all  tied  together  with  thongs  so  neatly  that  they 
look  like  wooden  pegs.  The  roof  is  a  frame-work  of  slight  sticks 
covered  with  felt,  one  end  resting  on  the  wall,  and  the  other  fixed 
into  a  hoop  of  birch  wood,  which  serves  as  a  chimney,  and  which, 
when  it  is  necessary  to  warm  the  tent,  is  covered  with  a  hood  of  felt, 
so  that  all  the  heat  of  the  fire  is  kept  within.  The  door  is  merely  a 
piece  of  felt,  and  the  lower  part  of  the  w  alls  is  very  neatly  formed 
of  reeds.  The  territory  of  the  Don  Cossaks  includes  both  sides  of 
the  river,  but  the  Asiatic  side  is  little  besides  marsh  and  deserts. 

"  On  Easter  Monday  we  took  leave  of  our  fi-iends,  and  set 
sail  for  Azoph,  the  attaman  having  ordered  us  a  boat  and  kindly 
furnished  us  with  a  sergeant,  whose  assistance  we  found  very 
necessary  m  procuring  horses  in  our  way  to  Ecatherinodar.  From 
Tcherkask  to  Azoph  is  a  dismal  tract  of  marshes,  in  which  the 
waters  of  the  Don  are  entirely  lost ;  at  Azoph,  where  Peter  the 
Great  built  frigates,  there  was  not  sufficient  water  for  a  long  boat. 
The  town  is  ruined,  but  there  is  a  fort  with  a  small  garrison,  where 
we  dined  with  an  old  German  officer. 

"  We  contimied  our  journey  through  a  vast  extent  of  green 
and  watery  savannahs,  without  trees  or  houses,  covered  with  wild 


24G  JOURNEY  ON  THE  BANKS  OF  THE  CUBAN. 

CHAP,  clucks  and  widgeons,  and  peopled  with  the  noisiest  generation  of 
'"'"^-  frogs  I  ever  remember ;  the  BpeKs/cE/coo^  of  the  river  Styx  was  only 
a  type  of  them.  On  the  third  day  of  our  journey  we  passed  a 
broken  and  ruinous  causeway,  where  a  hut  of  reeds  with  three  long 
lances  stuck  in  the  ground,  and  guarded  by  a  sentinel  in  a  sheep- 
skin, was  shown  as  the  frontier  guard-house  of  the  Zaporogian 
Cossaks,  or,  as  they  are  now  called  to  efface  the  memory  of  their 
ancient  robberies,  the  Cossaks  of  the  Black  Sea.  The  morning 
after  we  found  ourselves  in  Ecatherinodar,  a  miserable  village  of 
mud-houses  guarded  by  a  breast- work  of  mud,  and  a  strong  staken- 
bound  hedge.  We  thought,  however,  but  little  of  the  town,  our 
attention  being  entirely  occupied  with  the  greenness  of  the  trees, 
'  atque  novo  calcans  violaria  luxa,'  the  oak  timber  and  the  prospect 
of  the  wild  range  of  Caucasus.  Our  immediate  enqviiries  were, 
of  course,  directed  to  tliis  quarter ;  and  we  found  that  every  mouth 
was  full  of  the  robberies  and  invasions  of  their  neighbours  the 
Circassians.  If  you  look  in  Arrowsmith's  map,  you  will  find 
exactly  our  present  situation.  Georgia  and  those  provinces  of 
Persia  which  form  the  western  shore  of  the  Caspian,  are  become  a 
Russian  province.  The  former  in  particular,  as  being  of  the  same 
religion  and  an  ancient  ally,  has  united  very  readily  with  her 
powerful  neighbour.  We  met  with  the  sons  of  the  late  Czar, 
Kraelius,  at  Petersburg,  and  there  ai-e  many  Georgians  who  have  a 
high  rank  in  the  Russian  army.  Bagration  is  himself  a  Georgian, 
Immeretta  and  Mingrelia  are  also  Christian  and  friendly  nations ; 
but  all  the  remaining  range  of  Caucasus  from  the  Cuban  on  the 
north  to  Immeretta  southward,  is  inhabited  by  an  untameable  race 
of  mountaineers,  whose  constant  inroads  and  border  forays  keep 
the  whole  country  in  a  state  of  precautions  and  policy  similar  to 
those  of  Branksholme-Hall. 

"  Our  whole  journey  on  the  banks  of  the  Cuban  has  been  a 
comment  on  Walter  Scott.  We  had  escorts  from  post  to  post  of 
Cossaks  armed  wdth  lances  and  carbines,  and  travelled  with  our 
swords  ready,  our  pistols  primed,  and  enjoying  all  the  novelty  and 
dignity  of  danger.     The  peasants  whom  we  passed  had  everv  man 

9 


CIRCASSIANS.  247 


liis  lance  or  musket  slung  over  his  shoulder ;  and  almost  every  ^^hap. 
hill  had  a  beacon,  and  a  warder  raised  on  four  high  poles,  twisted  tsotj- 
at  the  top  with  wicker,  so  as  to  resemble  a  crow's  nest.  We  were 
almost  Mocked  enough  to  wish  for  a  skirmish ;  but  though  at  one 
time  an  alarm  was  given  that  seventy  mounted  Circassians  were 
hovering  at  the  river  side,  w^e  made  our  journey  in  great  peace. 
The  Zaporogians  are  the  fittest  people  in  the  woi-ld  to  have  such 
neighbours,  being  themselves  as  wild  irregular  cavalry  and  as 
'  restless  riders'  as  can  well  be  conceived.  They  often  regretted 
to  us  that  the  humanity  of  the  emperor  forbade  all  attacks  on  the 
Circassians,  unless  in  the  way  of  retaliation.  Whenever  they 
plunder  a  village,  drive  the  cattle,  or  carry  away  Russian  subjects 
as  slaves,  which  the  cordon  is  not  always  able  to  prevent,  the 
Cossaks  are  assembled,  attack  the  Tcherkassi  in  their  turn,  and 
carry  off  as  many  cattle,  men  and  women  as  they  can  find,  who 
are  kept  as  hostages  till  the  Tcherkassi  (for  that  is  the  native 
name  of  these  Circassians)  restore  their  prey.  Thornton  asked 
if  such  a  foray  had  taken  place  lately,  and  was  told  not  this  year ; 
there  had  been  some  trifling  thefts,  but  none  worthy  of  a  warder- 
raid.  '  Formerly,'  added  our  guide,  '  we  were  ourselves  a 
terrour  to  our  neighbours,  but  we  are  now,'  said  he  with  a  sigh, 
*  a  civilized  people  !'  The  establishment  of  the  Black  Sea 
Cossaks  differs  in  some  respects  from  their  brethren  of  the  Don  ; 
as  they  have  emplojinent  enough  at  home  they  are  never  embo- 
died for  the  purposes  of  regular  warfare  ;  but  their  constant  habits 
of  vigilance  and  danger  must  render  them  almost  unequalled  as 
light  troops.  They  wear  no  uniform,  which  they  consider  as  a  badge 
of  slavery;  their  clothes,  made  nearly  in  the  Persian  manner, 
are  of  the  most  glowing  colours,  and  the  richer  sort  have  red  or 
yellow  boots.  Their  hair  is  shorn  close  to  the  head,  except  one 
long  lock  which  hangs  over  the  face.  They  all  ride  well,  and 
never  stir  without  a  lance  ten  feet  long,  and  a  musket  slung  on 
the  right  shoulder.  The  richer  sort  add  a  pistol  and  a  Circassian 
or  Turkish  sabre  of  exquisite  workmanship.  The  poignards  and 
sabres  of  the  Circassians  are  the  best  I  ever  saw.     We  pass  our 


•248  CAUCASUS. 


CHAP,    time  among  these  fine  fellows  very  pleasantly  ;  we  teach  them  the 
Kioi;.      Hungarian  broad-sword  exercise,  and  they  teach  us  the  exercise  of 
the  lance.     I  have  never  seen  a  merrier  or  a  more  restless  race  of 
animals. 

"  The  country  we  have  passed  through  is,  in  many  respects, 
highly  interesting ;  deer,  and  every  other  kind  of  game,  are  in 
prodigious  quantities ;  but  none  are  so  abundant  as  pheasants  and 
wild  ducks,  one  or  other  of  which  we  put  up  at  almost  every  step. 
Among  the  birds  were  many  which  were  new  to  us,  such  as  the 
stork,  the  spoonbill,  the  bustard,  and  pelicans  without  end.  Of 
these  last,  which  we  had  several  opportunities  of  examining,  we 
have  seen  fifteen  or  twenty  at  a  time.  Eagles  are  not  so  common 
as  they  are  to  the  northward.  The  land  on  the  Russian  side  of  the 
river  is  but  scantily  wooded ;  on  the  southern  side  it  rises  in  a 
magnificent  theatre  of  oak  woods,  interspersed  with  cultivated 
ground  and  the  smoke  of  villages,  with  the  ridges  of  Caucasus 
above  the  whole.  The  nearest  hills  are  by  no  means  gigantic,  but 
there  are  some  white  peaks  which  rise  at  a  vast  distance,  and  which 
proved  to  us  that  these  w  ere  only  the  first  story  of  the  mountain. 

"  Of  the  inhabitants  of  this  land  of  romance  we  have  seen  but 
little.  At  Ecatherinodar  we  asked  repeatedly  if  it  were  not  possi- 
ble to  cross  the  border  to  some  of  the  villages  at  peace  with  Rus- 
sia, but  were  told  that  there  were  no  villages  which  could  be  safely 
visited.  At  that  place,  however,  we  saw  some  hundreds  of  them, 
who  were  come  to  barter  corn  for  salt,  and  one  of  their  chieftains, 
who,  some  years  ago,  had  emigrated  to  the  Russian  side  of  the 
river ;  and  here,  at  Taman,  we  have  made  acquaintance  with  a 
Sultan  Selim  Gerai,  a  fine  young  man,  who,  with  his  family  and 
retainers,  to  the  number  of  about  six  hundred  men,  had  like- 
wise thrown  himself  on  the  protection  of  this  government ;  he 
called  on  us  this  morning  with  six  attendants,  all  equipped  most 
gallantly  in  the  dress  and  armour  of  his  country.  Such  emigra- 
tions as  these  are  by  no  means  unfrequent ;  we  ourselves  witnessed 
one  of  them.  As  we  stopped  at  a  small  mud-fort  in  the  wildest 
part  of  the  frontier  to  change  our  horses  and  escort,  we  were  told 


STORY  OF  CIRCASSIAN  PRINCE.  249 

that  a  Circassian  prince  had  just  swam  over  the  Cuban,  and  was  ^y^^^- 
come  to  take  shelter  in  the  fort,  being  hard  pressed  by  a  victorious  ^^"''- 
enemy.  He  was  tall  and  thin,  as  the  Circassians  generally  are,  with 
a  stern  countenance ;  and  though  very  lean,  he  had  strong  muscular 
limbs ;  his  di-ess  was  plain,  and  he  had  lost  his  arms  in  the  i-iver. 
He  had  been  in  love,  he  said,  with  a  girl  whose  relations  asked  a 
thousand  rubles  for  her  price,  a  svun  which  he  could  not  pay. 
Unable,  however,  to  live  without  her,  he  carried  her  off  with  an 
armed  force  from  her  home,  and  killed  four  of  her  father's  retainers 
who  attempted  to  resist  him.  His  retreat  to  his  own  fortress  was, 
however,  cut  off;  his  party  put  to  the  sword,  and  his  mistress  re- 
taken. The  girl  wovdd,  he  said,  (and  he  cried  bitterly  as  he  spoke,) 
be  sold  to  the  Tm-ks,  and  be  lost  to  him  for  ever. 

"  You  \nll,  of  course,  be  curious  to  hear  whether  the  Cir- 
cassian women  answer  the  expectations  which  every  reader  of 
eastern  tales  or  French  travels  will  form.  I  have,  as  yet,  seen  none ; 
but  by  what  I  understand  from  others,  there  is  no  great  difference 
between  them,  and  the  women  of  the  neighboviring  nations.  Their 
fashions  are  quite  as  unnatural  and  unhealthy  as  those  of  more 
ci\'ihzed  countries.  What  rendered  Circassia  so  celebrated  for 
beauty  was,  no  doubt,  the  circumstance  of  its  mhabitants  being 
great  slave-brokers,  and  being  the  channel  through  which  the 
Tm-ks  obtained  their  most  beautifid  females,  who  were,  however, 
mostly  brought  from  Georgia." 


VOL.  I.  K    k 


CHAPTER    VIII. 


TCHERKASK  TO  LEOPOLD. 


Fisheries — 'Azoph  —  Tchernoimoiski  Cossaks — FerociUj  of  an  Ox — Ecatherinodar — 
Church— Quarantine— Circassians — Tlie  Cuban— Cossak  forts— Da?i(/er  from 
the  Circassians — Tremrook—Taman — Sultan  Selim  Gerai — Mire  Fountains- 
Passage  to  Kertch  —  Pelicans  —  Town  of  Kertch  —  Antiquities  —  Buzzards  — 
Kaffa  —  Ruins  —  German  Colonists  —  Polish  Jew  interpreter  —  Sudak  —  Br. 
Pallas  —  Wine  —  Kaya  —  Lambat  —  Partenak  —  Ayou  Dagh — Sugar  from  the 

Walnut  Tree  —  Vale  of  Baidar — Aktiar — Batchiserai — Palace— Jew's  Rock — 
Akmefchet—Kibitkas  of  the  Nogay  Tartars— Perekop — Character  of  Tartars — 

Women  —  Berislav  —  Steppes  — Cherson  — Tomb  of  Howard — Odessa — Due  de 
Richelieu — Podolia — Jews — Brody — Leopold. 


TCHERKASK  TO  LEOPOLD. 

CHAP.  "  From  Tcherkask  we  set  ovit  in  a  boat  procured  for  us  by  the 
1806."  attaman  on  Easter  Monday.  The  Don  is  divided  below  the 
town  into  three  principal  and  many  smaller  streams,  which  occupy 
a  Delta  containing  about  three  hundi-ed  square  miles  ;  the  whole 
space  consists  of  nothing  but  morasses  and  swamps,  which  might, 
in  many  places,  be  drained  and  made  good  meadow  land. 
Wherever  the  natural  fall  was  sufficient  to  carry  off  the  water  the 
land  seemed  excellent.  On  such  spots  were  generally  small 
villages  of  Cossaks,  who  live  chiefly  by  fishing ;  the  Calmuk  fisher- 
men pitch  their  tents  among  the  very  reeds  and  slime.  They 
possess  few  camels  or  horses ;  of  the  former  we  only  saw  one 
female  with  her  foal.  They  transport  their  tents  and  families  from 
place  to  place  in  large  boats,  of  which  one  appears  to  be  the  joint 
stock  of  several  famihes.     One  of  them  passed  us,  and  afforded  a 


FISHERIES— AZOPH.  251 

most  curious  groupe.  The  filth  and  stench  of  the  country  are  char 
terrible  ;  the  whole  Delta,  and  all  its  streams  and  marshes  are  ^^^- 
absolutely  infected  and  poisoned  mth  dead  fish,  owing  to  the 
slovenliness  and  carelessness  of  the  fishermen.  A  Calmuk  out  of 
a  prodigious  haul  of  fish,  as  the  salting  or  drying  them  for  sale  is 
expensive,  merely  selects  the  best,  and  leaves  the  remainder  to 
perish  and  rot  on  the  beach ;  if  indeed  it  is  so  near  his  hut  that 
the  smell  annoys  him,  and  stench  seldom  annoys  a  Calmuk,  he 
shovels  the  dead  fish  into  the  river.  The  fish  on  being  caught 
are  piled  up  in  layers,  with  rushes  between  each  layer,  and  the 
best  are  aftei'wards  selected  and  salted.  Large  quantities  of  salt 
are  annually  imported  from  the  Crimea  for  this  purpose,  as  the 
salt  produced  in  the  Cossak  country  is  not  sufficient  for  the 
demand.  Last  year  there  was  a  failure  of  salt  in  the  Crimea,  and, 
by  a  singular  coincidence,  a  great  scarcity  of  fish  in  the  Don  and 
sea  of  Azoph. 

"  The  marshes  might  certainly  be  drained  with  ease,  and  per- 
haps Anil  be  so,  if  the  country  ever  becomes  more  populous  ;  the 
consequent  changes  will  be  singular.  The  vast  increase  of  corn 
and  of  pastui-e-land  would  be  one  of  the  least ;  the  inhabitants 
must  purchase  this  increase  by  a  great  diminution  of  their  fishing, 
as  the  superabundance  of  fish  is  evidently  occasioned  by  the  vast 
extent  of  shallow  water,  the  abundance  of  cover,  shade,  and  nou- 
rishment afforded  by  the  reeds,  the  aquatic  vegetables  and  reptiles, 
and  the  numberless  creeks  and  harbours  of  the  marsh.  On  the 
other  hand,  they  will  find  much  greater  advantage  in  rendering 
their  river  navigable,  the  waters  of  which  are  now  lost  in  the 
morasses,  in  decreasing  the  unhealthiness  of  their  climate,  and, 
perhaps,  even  in  adding  something  to  the  depth  of  the  neighbour- 
ing parts  of  the  sea  of  Azoph.  The  towTi  of  Azoph  is  distant  from 
Tcherkask  sixty  versts  by  water,  and  something  more  by  land ;  it 
stands  on  the  left-hand  bank  of  the  southern  branch  of  the  Don, 
where  the  water  is  not  more  than  three  or  four  feet  in  depth.  It 
is  little  more  than  a  collection  of  half-ruined  cottages,  with  a  dila- 
pidated fort,  on  which  are  still  shown  the  batteries  named  after 

K  k  2 


252  TCHERNOIMOISKI  COSSAKS. 

CHAP.    Peter,  Menchikof,  &c.,  and  which  is  garrisoned  by  a  regiment  of 

VIII.  ^  o 

'»"'i-  two  battahons,  each  of  which  ought  to  consist  of  640  men.  This 
regiment  is  one  of  the  number  that  is  exclusively  destined  for  gar- 
risons, consisting  partly  of  invalids  and  partly  of  boys,  who  are  in- 
structed and  formed  for  soldiers.  Each  company  has  one  hundred 
and  sixty  men.  Some  of  the  officers  belonging  to  it  spoke  French 
and  German  well,  particularly  an  old  brigadier,  Von  Schwartzen- 
berg,  who  had  a  wife  and  family  of  daughters,  and  who  very 
hospitably  gave  us  a  dinner,  at  and  after  which  we  saw,  I  believe,  the 
greater  part  of  the  society  of  Azoph  and  the  neighbourhood ;  it  was 
more  numerous  and  more  respectable  than  I  should  have  supposed. 
The  brigadier  was  looking  forward  with  great  pleasure  to  spending 
the  remainder  of  his  life  in  the  gay  and  pleasant  circles  of  Charkof, 
where  he  soon  expected  to  go.  On  the  green  before  his  house 
were  several  flying-chairs  and  swings,  the  constant  amusement  of 
the  Russians,  and  which,  at  this  season,  were  in  motion  all  day 
long.  The  circuit  of  the  fortress  is  considerable,  and  the  works 
large  and  expensive,  but  the  situation  is  not  very  strong.  There 
was  a  new  Church,  almost  finished,  in  the  town,  built  partly  at  the 
expence  of  the  Emperor. 

"  We  left  Azoph  the  evening  of  the  15th  April,  and  travelled 
day  and  night  through  the  Asiatic  possessions  of  the  Don  Cossaks. 
These  possessions  consist  entirely  of  steppes,  but  of  greater 
fertility  than  those  in  Europe,  being  covered  with  fine  grass, 
and  prodigious  herds  of  cattle  :  we  saw  very  few  inhabitants. 
The  country  is  marshy,  and  covered  with  frogs,  wild-ducks,  and 
geese. 

"  On  the  16th  we  met  some  dragoons,  who  had  been  sent  to 
buy  chargers  in  the  Cuban,  where  the  horses  are  reckoned  very  good. 
They  told  us  the  ordinary  price  of  a  fine  one  was  forty  rubles. 
Towards  dusk  we  passed  a  reed  hut,  with  six  long  lances  stuck 
in  the  ground  before  it,  guarded  by  a  sentinel  in  a  sheep-skin, 
armed  with  a  rusty  carbine.  The  causeway  and  bog  to  which  he 
served  as  protector,  were  the  hmits  of  the  Tchernoimoiski  Cossaks. 
These    men    originally    were   deserters    and   vagabonds  from  all 


TCHERNOIMOISKI  COSSAKS.  053 


nations,  who  had  taken  refuge  in  the  marshy  islands  of  the  Dnieper,  chap 
At  the  foundation  of  Cherson  they  were  chased  from  their  homes,  •''•^^ 
and  took  shelter  at  the  mouth  of  the  Danube,  still  preserving 
their  character  of  fishermen  and  pirates.  Potemkin  offering  them 
pay  and  lands,  they  returned  to  the  side  of  Russia,  and  did  great 
service  in  the  second  Turkish  war.  They  received  as  a  reward  the 
country  newly  conquered  from  the  Cuban  Tartars.  They  hold 
their  lands  by  the  same  tenure,  and  enjoy  nearly  the  same 
privileges  as  the  Don  Cossaks,  bvit  are  much  poorer  and  more 
uncivilized,  and  never  quit  their  houses,  where,  indeed,  they 
have  sufficient  employment.  They  receive  no  pay,  except  an 
allowance  of  rye,  and  dress  themselves  at  their  own  expence, 
and  in  whatever  colours  they  choose,  without  any  regard  to  uni- 
formity. The  officers  for  the  most  part,  wear  red  boots,  which  is 
their  only  distinction.  They  deal  largely  in  cattle,  and  have  a 
barter  of  salt  for  corn  with  the  Circassians.  The  language  they 
use  is  a  corrvq^ted  Russian,  a  good  deal  mixed  with  Turkish ;  and 
they  will  not  permit  their  chiefs  to  use  any  other,  at  least  in  pubhc 
speaking,  or  in  addressing  them.  They  claim,  or  at  least  exercise, 
the  right  of  electing  any  new  member  into  their  society,  which, 
till  lately,  used  to  want  frequent  recruiting.  Many  slaves,  who  have 
contrived  to  escape  from  their  masters,  are  received  by  these 
people,  and  protected.  In  the  Crimea  it  is  almost  impossible  to 
keep  a  slave,  their  opportunities  of  escape  are  so  numerous.  The 
Zaporogians,  as  they  were  originally  called,  are  distinguished  by  a 
long  lock  of  hair,  which  hangs  down  over  their  face,  and  is  gene- 
rally tucked  back  behind  the  ear ;  the  rest  of  the  hair  is  shorn 
very  close.  They  are  a  fine  stout  race  of  men.  In  common  with 
all  the  neighbom'ing  nations,  they  make  great  use  of  a  mantle  of 
strong  felt,  which  may  be  steeped  in  water  without  wetting.  Their 
arms  are  a  carbine  slung  over  the  right  shoulder,  a  lance  ten  feet 
long,  which  they  manage  by  means  of  a  thong  twisted  round  the 
right  hand  and  arm,  and  occasionally  Tvirkish  or  Circassian  sabres, 
pistols,  and  poignards.  They  are  generally  called  thieves ;  we 
found  them,  however,  very  honest,  where  their  point  of  honour 


254  FEROCITY  OF  AN  OX— ECATHERINODAR. 

CHAP,    was  touched,  very  good-natured,  and,  according  to  their  scanty 
'8"''-      means,  hospitable. 

"  In  passing  the  causeway  where  the  sentinel  was  stationed, 
we  saw  a  remarkable  instance  of  ferocity  in  an  ox  belonging  to  a 
team  which  was  passing  at  the  same  time  with  ourselves  ;  without 
any  apparent  reason  it  attacked  the  man  who  was  driving  it,  threw 
him  down  and  trampled  on  him ;  and  if  it  had  not  been  for  the 
soft  mud,  would  probably  have  killed  him. 

"  The  cattle  here  are  larger  and  finer  than  any  where  in 
Russia.  There  are  no  sheep,  not  even  of  the  Asiatic  breed.  The 
Cossak  horses  are  what  would  be  called  in  England  good  gallo- 
ways ;  their  masters  vaunt  very  much  their  speed  and  hardiness. 
According  to  their  account,  a  moderately  good  horse  will  go  sixty 
versts,  or  forty  miles,  at  full  speed  without  stopping.  They  are 
seldom  handsome.  The  Calmuk  horses  are  all  distinguished  by 
having  their  ears  slit. 

"  The  17th  April,  about  seven  in  the  morning,  we  arrived  at 
Ecatherinodar,  a  large  village  with  many  gardens  and  trees,  and  a 
fortress  built  after  the  manner  of  the  country,  sm-rounded  merely 
by  a  breast- work  of  earth,  furnished  with  a  strong  and  high  hedge 
and  eight  small  pieces  of  cannon.  The  entrance  is  by  a  common 
six-barred  gate.  Within  are  some  earthen  huts  for  the  Cossaks 
on  guard,  and  a  large  wooden  Church  which,  from  its  spaciousness 
and  the  manner  in  which  it  is  constructed,  does  great  credit  to 
these  poor  Cossaks,  at  whose  expence  it  is  entirely  maintained. 
When  we  were  there  it  was  not  quite  finished.  The  timber  of 
which  it  is  built  is  chiefly  oak,  and  comes  from  Voronetz.  It 
must  be  very  expensive.  I  forget  the  sum  they  stated,  but  it 
struck  me  as  being  very  great.  There  are  some  costly  ornaments 
in  the  Church,  and  their  standards  are  also  kept  there,  as  well  as 
the  silver  kettle-drums  given  them  by  Catherine.  The  priest 
spoke  Latin  and  seemed  an  inteUigent  man.  We  went,  after  seeing 
the  Church,  to  the  quarantine,  the  only  place  where  the  Circas- 
sians are  allowed  to  have  any  intercourse  with  the  subjects  of 
Russia.     It  is  situated  on  the  river-side  about  a  verst  from  the 


QUARANTINE— CIRCASSIANS.  255 

town.     In  our  way  we  passed  another  mud  fort,  and  were  told  that    chap. 

VIII. 

the  cordon  extended  all  along  the  frontier  ;  five  thousand  men  at      isoe. 
a   time  are   employed   on  this   service.     The    total   number   of 
Cossaks  in  Ecatherinodar  is  25,000  men, 

"  M.  Constantinof,  the  manager  of  the  quarantine,  was  a  Rus- 
sian, a  very  sensible  man,  and  well-acquainted  with  the  Circassian 
manners.  They  are  divided  into  many  small  tribes,  under  their 
respective  princes,  who  assume  the  title  of  Sultan,  and  add  '  Gerai' 
to  their  name,  as  affecting  to  be  the  descendants  of  Zingis  Khan. 
Their  country  is  agreeable  and  very  populous,  and  their  fields  well 
cultivated  ;  the  villages  nearly  resemble  those  of  the  Cossaks,  being- 
built  of  mud  and  reeds.  They  bring  wood,  millet,  rye,  barley,  and 
a  little  wheat  to  the  quarantine  to  barter  with  the  Cossaks  for  salt 
paying  two  measures  of  millet  for  one  of  salt.  Those  we  saw  were 
very  ragged  and  miserable ;  they  were  all  unarmed,  having  left 
their  weapons  on  their  own  side  of  the  river ;  the  chiefs  alone  pre- 
serve the  privilege  of  coming  to  the  rendezvous  armed.  Their 
women  are  kept  carefully  concealed,  and  their  husbands  are  very 
jealous.  The  girls,  at  an  early  age,  have  a  tight  and  broad  leather 
gii-dle  sewn  round  their  waists,  which  remains  till  their  growth 
bursts  it,  when  it  is  replaced  by  another.  This  process  makes 
their  waists  very  small,  but  is  extremely  injurious  to  their  health. 
I  understand  that  they  are  handsome,  but  not  particularly  so. 

"  The  religion  of  the  Circassians  is  a  mixture  of  Christianity, 
Paganism,  and  Islamism.  Many  of  their  tribes  have  lately  de- 
stroyed their  mosques,  and  shown  a  great  disposition  to  embrace 
Christianity.  They  reverence  the  cross  greatly.  The  form  of  a 
cross  cut  in  one  of  the  logs  is  no  small  protection  to  a  stack  of 
timber  against  theft. 

"  The  year  before  last  the  Circassians  made  an  incursion  with 
above  5,000  men,  and  a  battle  took  place  at  Ecathei-inodar ;  but 
they  are  much  reduced  in  number  fi-om  what  they  formerly  were, 
and  decline  every  year.  Their  sultans  alone  are  privileged  to  carry 
bows  ;  the  other  horsemen  are  armed  with  carbines,  pistols,  sabres, 
and  small  lances  ;  and  all  who  can  afford  it  have  coats  of  mail. 


•256  THE  CUBAN— COSSACK  FORTS. 

CHAP.  These  are  chiefly  imported  from  Persia,  or  sometimes  from  Con- 
i^oe  stantinople  ;  the  other  arms  are  either  brought  from  Constanti- 
nople (Sfetigrade  the  Russians  call  it)  or  are  manufactured  by 
themselves.  Their  sabres  and  poignards  are  of  admirable  temper. 
The  foot-soldiers  are  chiefly  armed  with  long  Turkish  guns,  which 
are  used  with  rests.  The  Circassian  horses  are  very  famous  ;  and, 
in  common  with  all  others  of  these  countries,  they  have  the  faculty 
of  bleeding  spontaneously  when  overcharged  with  blood.  We 
learnt  these  particulars  partly  from  M.  Constantinof,  and  partly 
from  different  Cossaks.  Mr.  Smith,  an  American  whom  we  met 
at  Moscow,  had  told  us  that  some  of  the  Circassian  tribes  paid 
divine  honours  to  the  cat ;  of  this,  however,  none  of  the  Cossaks 
had  ever  heard.  Mr.  Smith  had  been  at  Ecatherinodar  with  the 
Due  de  Richelieu,  and  afterwards  passed  into  Georgia. 

"  The  Cuban  is  a  muddy  and  not  very  considerable  river ;  its 
banks  are  of  earth,  high  and  steep.  The  coiuitry  on  the  Circas- 
sian side  rises,  in  an  amphitheatre  of  fine  woods  and  gentle  hills, 
to  the  ridges  of  Caucasus,  which  in  this  part  are  not  very  gigantic. 
The  boats  of  the  Circassians  which  we  saw  upon  the  river,  were 
small  canoes,  hollowed,  like  all  those  in  this  country,  from  single 
trees. 

"  On  leaving  Ecatherinodar  Thornton  lost  his  gun,  and  ap- 
plied to  the  master  of  the  police,  but  with  very  small  hopes  of 
recovering  it.  He  even  begged  it  might  be  given,  if  found,  to  a 
young  officer  who  had  shown  us  much  civility.  To  our  great  sur- 
prise, however,  when  we  arrived  at  Taman,  the  gun  was  brought  to 
us.  An  express  had  been  sent  after  us,  who  had  travelled  the 
whole  distance  from  Ecatherinodar,  to  restore  the  gun  to  its  owner; 
and  the  person  employed  to  convey  it  refused  to  accept  any  reward 
for  his  labour. 

"  We  set  out  about  seven  in  the  evening  of  the  17th  April, 
escorted  by  a  sergeant  and  six  Cossaks,  who  were  relieved  at  each 
station.  There  is  a  cordon  of  such  forts  as  have  been  mentioned, 
built  at  five  or  six  versts  from  each  other,  and  connected  by  alarm 
posts  within  sight  of  each.     The  alarm  post  is  made  of  three  poles 


DANGER  FROM  THE  CIRCASSIANS.  257 

united  at  the  top,  and  twisted  with  wicker  hke  a  crow's  nest,  chai>. 
where  a  sentinel  is  placed  to  watch  the  Circassians  on  the  other  isoe. 
side  of  the  river ;  another  sentinel  remains  below,  mounted  and 
holding  the  horse  for  his  comrade  in  the  nest,  so  that  they  can 
immediately  make  off  in  case  of  alarm.  The  soil  of  this  part  of 
the  country  is  excessively  fertile,  the  grass  growing  to  an  extraor- 
dinary height.  The  Comte  de  Rochfort  said  that  he  had  seen 
thistles  as  high  as  a  man  on  horseback.  During  the  night  an 
alarm  was  given  that  seventy  horsemen  had  assembled  on  the 
Circassian  side  of  the  river,  and  threatened  us  with  an  attack. — 
We  heard,  however,  no  more  of  them. 

"  The  18th  we  continued  travelling  through  a  fertile  but 
marshy  country,  abounding  in  deer  and  every  kind  of  game. 
Among  the  birds  we  distinguished  pheasants,  pelicans  in  great 
numbers,  cranes,  and  swans.  This  part  of  our  journey  was 
reckoned  more  dangerous  than  any  other,  both  from  the  nature  of 
the  country,  being  perfectly  wild,  filled  with  low  swampy  wood 
and  high  reeds,  and  also  because  it  is  a  very  common  resort  of  the 
Circassians  for  the  purpose  of  cutting  the  reeds.  Every  man  we 
met  had  his  arms  with  him ;  and  the  officer  at  Ecatherinodar 
had  ordered  us  a  reinforcement  of  three  Cossaks.  We  passed  a 
ferry  over  the  river  Ae,  which  falls  into  the  Cuban ;  on  the 
opposite  side  was  a  fort  commanded  by  an  old  Cossak  sergeant, 
who  was  very  civil.  Here  we  breakfasted.  About  three  o'clock 
we  arrived  at  another  fortress,  where  we  had  an  adventure  with  a 
Circassian  fugitive  prince '.  From  this  post  we  had  a  very  merry 
guard  who  scampered  about  us  like  savages,  whooping  and 
screaming,  and  firing  their  pieces  in  the  air.  Thornton  showed 
them  the  Hungarian  broad  sword  exercise.  They  attempted  to 
prove  the  superiority  of  their  lances,  but  were  evidently  unable  to 
guard  themselves  effectually.  At  night  we  supped  with  a  large 
party  of  Cossaks  on  fish,  in  one  of  their  subterranean  huts ;  the 
fire  was  lit  in  the  middle  of  the  room,  round  which  they  all  sat 

'  See  page  249. 
VOL.  I.  L    1 


258  TAMAN. 


VI 11 
180(! 


CHAP,  cross-legged,  and  formed  a  most  picturesque  and  merry  groupe. 
We  at  first  wished  to  leave  a  guard  with  the  carriage,  but  they 
assured  us  that  our  property  was  safe,  as  none  were  there  but 
Zaporogians ;  and  they  strictly  kept  their  word.  They  complained 
much  of  their  poverty,  and  of  the  prohibition  against  all  attacks 
on  the  Circassians,  whom  they  said  they  would  otherwise  have 
long  since  exterminated.  Their  country  they  praised  highly  for 
its  pleasantness  and  great  population. 

"  April  I9th. — We  continued  our  journey  through  a  tract  of 
detestable  country,  all  marshes  covered  with  high  reeds,  in  which 
the  carriage  frequently  sank  so  deep  that  four  oxen  were  necessary 
to  draw  it  out.  I  myself  had  a  thorough  soaking  in  the  mire,  in 
which  my  horse  sunk  up  to  the  withers.  At  a  small  station  called 
Temrook  we  breakfasted  on  bread  and  '  vodka ;'  while  we  were 
thus  employed  in  the  kabak  two  Moldavians  came  in  ;  and  just  as 
we  were  setting  off  a  sailor  came  with  great  civility  to  offer  us 
some  crawfish  which  he  had  boiled  for  his  own  breakfast.  He 
turned  out  to  be  a  Frenchman  employed  by  an  Italian  merchant 
at  Taman  to  salt  fish.  He  had  been  in  England  and  spoke  a  little 
English.  After  travelling  six  versts  farther  through  an  immense 
morass,  we  entered  the  isle,  as  it  is  called,  of  Taman  ;  it  is  sepa- 
rated from  the  continent  by  a  large  salt  lake,  which  is  only  divided 
from  the  sea  of  Azoph  on  the  one  side,  and  from  the  Euxine  on  the 
other,  by  narrow  necks  of  land  rendered  almost  impassable  by 
marshes.  That  on  the  southern  side  is,  I  believe,  quite  so ;  the 
other  was  formerly  guarded  by  a  Turkish  fortress  now  in  ruins. 

"  Taman,  or,  as  it  is  now  called  by  the  revived  name  of  Phana- 
goria,  is  a  small  and  miserable  place,  situated  on  the  southern  shore 
of  a  deep  bay  branching  from  the  Bosphorus.  The  opposite  shore 
of  Kertch,  and  the  town  and  fortress  of  Yenicale,  are  very  visible 
from  it.  The  bay  is  much  too  shallow  for  any  thing  but  lighters  ; 
four  or  five  feet  of  water  being  the  average  depth.  There  is  a 
fortress,  with  a  Russ  garrison,  of  whom  the  Cossaks  complain  hea- 
vily as  infamous  thieves.  Our  carriage  was  guarded  every  night 
by  a  Cossak   sentinel  with  his  lance.     The   Church  is  small  and 


TAMAN.  259 


mean,  but  contains  some  morsels  of  antiquity,  the  remnants  of  the     chap. 

VIII. 

ancient  Greek  colony.  Among  them  is  a  votive  tablet — laxvpoig  isoe! 
Qsoi£  AoTrtpXt^  Kat  A(TT(ja\soPTi.  Who  are  these  TpijiaWoi  Qsoi  ? 
There  is  also  a  very  famous  stone  with  a  Slavonic  inscription,  on 
which  Count  Alexis  Moussin  Pouschkin  has  written  a  dissertation. 
The  inscription  purports,  that  in  the  year  1065,  Prince  Gleb,  the 
then  chief  of  the  Russians,  had  caused  the  Bosphorus,  while 
frozen,  to  be  paced  from  Kertch  to  Tmutaracan  ;  and  the  distance 
was  thirty-six  versts.  This  is  interesting  to  the  Russians,  as  ascer- 
taining the  site  of  their  ancient  capital,  which  had  been  before 
much  dispvited.  The  name  in  Theodosius'  itinerary  is  Tamartaca. 
Tmutaracan  means,  literally,  the  '  swanii  of  beetles.'  We  met 
with  a  very  sensible  and  civil  priest,  father-in-law  to  the  Cossak 
with  whom  we  lodged.  At  om'  going  away  he  desired  us  to  sign 
a  paper  intended  for  the  inspection  of  his  bishop,  purporting  that 
he  had  treated  us  with  civility  and  hospitality.  His  cottage  was 
very  neatly  furnished,  with  some  bad  religious  prints,  a  large  Bible, 
and  a  collection  of  homilies.  He  could  speak  no  other  language 
but  Russ.  A  very  common  print,  in  all  this  part  of  the  world,  is 
a  strange  representation  of  Mount  Athos,  with  an  inscription  in 
Italian,  Latin,  Greek,  and  Slavonic.  It  is  considered  as  tanta- 
mount to  a  Saint  in  any  room  or  Church,  especially  as  it  is  intended 
ei£  Oeov  So^av  kui  ttjq  AparoXiKijg  opOoSo^iag.  This  is  almost  the 
only  print  which  is  commonly  seen  in  Russian  houses,  excejDt  a 
most  extraordinary  map  of  Russia,  which  we  saw  at  a  post-house 
tlu'ee  stages  from  Moscow,  on  the  Troitza  road.  At  Tcherkask, 
indeed,  w^e  saw  a  print  of  two  persons  talking  over  a  globe  ;  and 
below,  a  long  dialogue  between  a  Mushik  and  a  ri()o(/)£(70f>. 

"  The  trade  of  Taman,  such  as  it  is,  consists  in  salt  and  fish. 
There  was  one  Italian  trader  in  the  place,  who  was,  however, 
merely  a  sort  of  supercargo,  employed  by  a  house  at  CafFa.  He 
passed  among  the  Cossaks  for  a  Greek,  and  was  a  very  civil  man, 
who  would  take  no  present  in  return  for  his  civilities.  The  shops 
in  the  town  would  not  bear  a  comparison  with  the  worst  furnished 


booth  in  an  English  fair. 


1  2 


2(!0  SULTAN  SELIM  GERAT— MIRE  FOUNTAINS. 

CHAP.  "  About  fifteen  versts  from  Taman  is  a  small  colony  of  Circas- 

VIII.  •^. 

'"»«•      sians,  who,  some  years  since,  came  over  with  then*  Chief,  to  the 
number  of  five  hundred  souls.     Their  chief,  Sultan  Selim  Gerai, 
a  fine  young  man  of  twenty-five,  paid  us  a  visit  at  Taman,  accom- 
panied by  six  attendants ;  one  of  these  men  the  Cossaks  called 
colonel.     I  suppose  they  meant  attaman,   or  chief  of  a  village. 
The  Sultan  had  his  bow  and  arrows  ;  he  shot  one  into  the  air,  but 
we  could  not  prevail  on  him  to  aim  at  any  particular  object ;  I 
suspect,  because  he  was  not  very  skilful.     He  declared  that  no 
Circassian  could  hit  a  goose,  which  we  pointed  out  to  him,  though 
it  was  at  a  very  moderate   distance.     He  and  all  his  party  had 
shoes  without  soles,  and  long  tight  pantaloons ;  the  colonel  wore 
a  red  tunic,  over  a  beautiful  coat  of  mail.     Their  countenances, 
as  well  as  those  of  all  the  Circassians  I  have  seen,  were  precisely  the 
same  with  the  Turks  and  Tartars.     We  were  not  able  to  learn  the 
cavise  of  his  leaving  his  country;  indeed  all  the  information  which  we 
derived  from  him  was  very  imperfectly  ascertained,  from  the  double 
interpretation  which  was  necessary.     We  could  only  make  out  that 
he  had  fled  from  being  in  fear  of  his  life.     Thornton  got  a  whip 
from  the  chief,  which  he  carried  off  as  a  memorial ;    these  whips 
are  of  plaited  thongs ;  the  lash  is  three-edged,  excessively  sharp, 
and  heavy ;  as  a  blow  from  so  formidable  a  weapon  Mould  maim  a 
horse,  they  fasten  a  strip  of  leather  to  the  end,  with  which  they 
gently  touch  the  animal  when  they  want  him  to  go  faster. 

"  On  the  20th  we  took  a  ride  with  our  Cossak  host  to  see  the 
mire  fountains  mentioned  by  Pallas.  The  first  thing  which  we  were 
shown  was  a  circular  area,  resembling  the  crater  of  a  small  volcano. 
In  the  centre  was  a  heap  of  stones,  which,  with  the  surrounding 
mud,  appeared  impregnated  with  sulphur.  In  one  place  was  a 
pool  of  water,  without  any  particular  taste.  About  five  hundred 
yards  distant  was  another  cucle,  but  much  smaller,  all  of  soft  mud; 
and  in  the  centre  was  a  little  hole,  whence  slowly  bubbled  out  a 
nauseous  black  fluid,  like  bilge-water.  By  treading  on  any  part  of 
the  mud  more  matter  was  forced  from  the  wound ;  for  the  whole 
had  the  appearance  of  one  vast  sore.     We  thrust  our  sticks  into 


PASSAGE  TO  KERTCH— PELICANS.  261 

the  mud,  but  found  no  bottom  ;  and  on  withdraw-ing  them,  a  similar  tHAr 
kind  of  fluid  rose  through  the  apertures  which  they  had  made.  i«»"- 
There  was  another,  precisely  similar,  at  a  small  distance  ;  and  very 
near  this  last  a  well  of  water,  resembUng  that  of  Harrowgate  in  taste 
and  smell,  and  sparkling.  Pallas  imagines  that  these  have  some 
connection  with  a  singular  island,  which,  with  a  tremendous  noise, 
appeared  suddenly  above  the  sea  near  Temrook,  throwing  up  mud 
and  stones,  which  were  succeeded  by  an  eruption  of  fire  and  smoke, 
and  afterwards  sunk  down  again,  and  left  no  traces  on  the  spot. 
We  heard  much  of  the  fossils  that  were  to  be  met  with  on  the 
coast  of  the  Black  Sea.  The  good  priest  showed  us  the  tooth  of 
a  giant  which  was  found  there,  calculated  for  a  man  of,  at  least, 
fifty  feet  high ;  the  whole  scull,  he  said,  had  been  sent  to  Peters- 
burg. We  found  on  the  hill  where  the  mire  fountain  was,  several 
substances,  like  half-calcined  bones.  During  this  expedition  we 
started  four  hares,  which  the  priest's  Siberian  greyhounds  chased, 
but  only  killed  one.  We  were  much  struck  with  the  sure-footed- 
ness  of  oiu-  horses,  who  went  down  some  very  difficult  places  with 
great  ease. 

"  On  the  22d  of  April  we  found  that  we  had  exhausted  all  the 
curiosities  of  Taman,  and  determined  to  proceed  directly  to  Kertch, 
and  wait  for  our  carriage  at  Caffli.  We  were  induced  to  take  this 
step  by  understanding  that  Yenicale  offered  nothing  remarkable 
either  in  antiquities  or  situation,  and  by  our  desire  to  give  as  much 
time  as  possible  to  Caffa.  The  regular  ferry-boat  was  then  at  Ye- 
nicale, and  the  wind  directly  contrary.  For  this  boat  our  carriage 
was  obliged  to  wait ;  we  ourselves  obtained  a  fishing-boat  from  the 
point  nearest  Kertch.  From  Phanagoria  to  this  point  is  reckoned 
twelve  versts  ;  it  is  a  long  narrow  spit  of  land,  evidently  of  recent 
formation,  and  marked  in  Guthrie's  map  as  an  island.  Even  where 
this  terminates  is  a  range  of  sand,  reaching  like  a  bar  across  almost 
half  the  Bosphorus,  and  hardly  covered  with  water,  which  bids 
fair,  in  time,  completely  to  block  up  the  navigation.  An  immense 
quantity  of  sea-fowl  are  seen  on  every  part  of  the  straits.  A  vast 
flight  of  pelicans  passed  over  our  heads  in  a  regular  order  of  flight. 


■2c,i  TOWN  OF  KERTCH. 


CHAP,  similar  to  that  of  wild-geese.  The  prospect  is  perfectly  naked  and 
isoc  desert ;  on  one  side,  the  bare  downs  and  long  sand  Kossas  of  Ta- 
man  ;  and  on  the  other,  a  bleak  and  rocky  coast,  without  verdure  or 
inhabitants :  and  the  miserable  fishermen  who  rowed  us  over  were 
a  very  fit  groupe  for  such  a  scene.  From  the  Kossa,  where  we  em- 
barked, to  Kertch  is  reckoned  twelve  versts.  Immediately  oppo- 
site is  a  round  shallow  bay,  where  was  a  hut  in  which  the  fisher- 
men occasionally  slept.  Behind  the  northern  point  of  this  bay 
opens  a  much  larger,  where  a  few  miserable  houses,  a  small  Church, 
and  a  jetty  of  piles  point  out  Kertch.  The  most  conspicuous  ob- 
ject is  a  conical  green  hill,  either  entirely  or  in  part  artificial,  on 
the  top  of  which  are  a  seat  and  a  flag-staff.  The  Russian  officer 
who  took  us  there  fancied  it  was  erected  in  honour  of  Mithridates, 
or  some  of  his  family.  The  shore  is  very  shelving  and  shallow  ; 
and  we  had  the  greatest  difficulty  to  get  our  boat  within  a  reason- 
able distance  of  land.  The  commandant  of  Kertch,  a  Georgian  by 
birth,  told  us  that  many  plans  had  been  given  for  a  harbour  and 
quarantine  at  this  place;  but  the  present  scheme  of  making  Caffa 
the  emporium  would  probably  prevent  them.  Immediately  on 
landing  we  were  accosted  by  a  Russian  priest,  wdth  the  salutation, 
Xpi(TTO£  fwe(TTi].  We  had  before  observed  that  the  Cossaks  used  at 
this  season  to  salute  foreigners  in  Greek. 

"  The  town  of  Kertch  is  very  small  and  miserable  ;  it  is  chiefly 
inhabited  by  Jews.  There  is  one  tolerable  watch-maker  in  the 
bazar,  and  two  shops  where  we  saw  some  English  cotton  stuffs. 
The  country  around  is  all  bare  of  trees,  and  their  fire-wood  is 
brought  from  the  neighbourhood  of  Eski  Krim,  a  distance  of,  per- 
haps, 120  versts.  There  is  a  spacious  fortress,  wdth  a  garrison  of 
a  lieutenant-colonel,  a  major,  and  four  companies  of  light-infantry. 
The  men  were  distinguished  by  not  wearing  swords,  which  most 
Russian  soldiers  do  ;  the  non-commissioned  officers  carried  rifles. 
I  had  made  some  di-awings  and  memoranda  of  the  antiquities, 
which  I  have  lost,  but  which  differed  in  no  material  point  from  the 
account  published  by  Pallas.  The  most  interesting  are  in  the 
wall  of  the  Church.     It  is,  perhaps,  worth  mentioning,  as  illustra- 


BUSTARDS— CAFFA.  263 

tive  of  national  character,  that  the  Russian  major,  who  agreed  to    chap. 

"^  ®  VIII. 

furnish  us  with  horses,  and  an  open  kibitka  to  Caffa,  insisted  on  ^jsoe.  ^ 
such  usurious  terms,  that  the  other  officers  cried  out  '  shame  ;'  and 
that  the  same  man  afterwards  squeezed  some  further  presents  out 
of  Thornton's   servant.      A   Cossak  would  have  disdained  such 
conduct. 

"  We  left  Kertch  on  the  23d.  From  thence  the  road  winds 
among  swampy  and  uncultivated  savannahs,  having  generally  a 
range  of  low  hills  to  the  south,  and  the  sea  of  Azoph  at  some  dis- 
tance to  the  north.  These  plains  are  covered  with  immense  mul- 
titudes of  bustards,  cranes,  and  storks.  I  saw  no  more  pelicans 
after  landing  in  Europe.  I  never  saw  an  English  bustard ;  but 
those  of  the  Crimea  appeared  to  be  a  stouter  bird  than  what 
is  generally  represented  in  prints.  There  are  many  ruins  in  this 
part  of  the  country,  and  other  vestiges  of  former  population  ;  we 
passed  two  or  three  small,  but  solid  and  well-built  bridges  over 
rivulets,  which  appeared  to  be  of  Mahomedan  workmanship  ;  and 
there  were  several  tombs  distinguished  by  the  turban.  The  num- 
ber of  barrows  near  Kertch  is  surprising. 

"  We  passed  two  villages  still  standing,  and  recognized  at 
once  the  grotesque  dresses  of  the  Nogay  herdsmen,  represented 
by  Pallas.  At  night  we  reached  another  village  some  time  after 
dark,  and  had  to  wage  a  furious  battle  with  the  dogs  before  we 
could  procure  a  lodging.     Its  name  I  have  forgotten. 

"  The  next  day  we  observed  several  patches  of  cultivation, 
and  the  country  improved,  though  still  full  of  ruins.  On  our  right 
hand  lay  the  sea  of  Azoph,  and  on  our  left  the  Black  Sea  was  now 
visible  ;  a  ruinous  mosque  lay  before  us.  We  found  on  inquiry 
that  our  ch-iver  had  mistaken  his  way,  that  we  had  passed  the  turn 
to  Caffa,  and  were  then  on  the  road  to  Karasubazar.  CafFa  now 
lay  on  our  left  hand,  and  presented  a  most  dismal  prospect  as  we 
approached  it  on  that  side.  There  is  a  strikmg  ruin  on  the  north- 
east point  of  the  bay  which  was  formerly  a  mint ;  and  the  walls 
and  towers,  though  dismantled,  are  very  fine.  The  town  rises  like 
a  theatre  from  the  water's  edge,  and  is  of  considerable  extent,  but 


■264  CAFFA— RUINS. 


VIII. 
1806 


( iiAf.     almost  entirely  ruinous.     On  the  land  side  it  is  defended  by  a 

VIII  •> 

high  wall  with  loop-holes  and  battlements ;  the  loop-holes  com- 
municate with  a  sort  of  gallery,  and  are  contrived  in  the  thickness 
of  the  wall,  with  large  internal  arches,  which  give  it  the  appearance 
of  an  aqueduct.  These  arches  support  the  upper  walk  and 
parapet.  The  towers  are  semicircular ;  on  one  of  them  on  which 
is  a  gateway,  are  many  shields  with  armorial  bearings,  not  much 
defaced,  which  ascertain  the  Genoese  to  have  been  its  founders. 
There  are  some  noble  Mohamedan  baths  entire,  but  now  con- 
verted into  warehouses  ;  many  ruined  mosques,  and  one  which  is 
still  in  good  order,  though  little  used.  There  are  also  the  remains 
of  several  buildings  which,  by  their  form,  and  position  east  and 
west,  appear  to  have  been  Churches.  Turkish  and  Armenian 
inscriptions  abound ;  but  I  could  find,  in  several  days'  search,  no 
vestige  which  I  covdd  rely  on  as  having  belonged  to  the  ancient 
Theodosia.  The  north-west  quarter  of  the  town  is  peopled  by 
Karaite  Jews,  and  the  narrow  bazar  nearest  the  water  swarms  with 
those  of  Europe.  These  are  the  two  most  populous  parts  of  the 
town.  There  are  some  Armenians,  but  not  exceeding  thirty 
families,  and  hardly  any  Tartars.  The  remainder  of  the  popu- 
lation consists  of  the  garrison,  five  or  six  Italian  and  German 
merchants  (no  French  when  w^e  were  there,)  and  some  miserable 
French  and  Suabian  emigrants.  General  Fanshaw  has  con- 
structed a  very  good  quay;  and  by  pulling  down  some  ruinous 
buildings  and  a  part  of  the  wall,  has  made  a  good  entrance  from 
the  north,  which  he  has  planted  with  trees.  They  were  building 
a  very  large  and  convenient  place  of  quarantine.  I  could  find  no 
aqueduct,  nor  did  there  appear  any  need  of  one,  as  there  are 
many  beautiful  springs  bursting  out  of  different  parts  of  the  higher 
town,  which,  excepting  the  north-east  quarter,  where  the  Karaites 
live,  is  entirely  waste  and  ruinous.  The  springs  have  all  been 
carefully  preserved  in  cisterns,  some  of  them  ornamented  and 
arched  over,  with  Turkish  inscriptions ;  and  one  of  them  in  parti- 
cular, which  is  near  the  south-west  angle  of  the  walls,  is  a 
delightful  bath,  though  small,  being  surrounded  by  picturesque 


CAFFA— GERMAN  COLONISTS.  265 


rums  and  overhung  with  ivy  and  brush-wood.     The  ruins  of  CafFa    chap. 

VIII. 
1806. 


are  mostly  of  freestone  ;  the  greater  part  of  the  houses  were,  I 
understood,  of  mud  and  ill-baked  bricks  ;  but  of  these  hardly  any 
traces  are  left.  None  of  those  still  standing  have  flat  roofs, 
but  are  all  tiled  with  very  projecting  eaves,  and  in  the  same  style 
of  architecture  as  the  palace  at  Batchiserai.  The  best  of  these 
adjoin  to  the  quay,  and  are  inhabited  by  the  merchants.  There 
are  a  few  buildings  lately  erected ;  one  a  tavern,  by  a  French 
emigrant ;  and  another  a  house  intended  for  the  governor,  Fanshaw. 
All  these  are  of  shght  timber  frames  covered  with  plaister. 

"  CafTa  was  called  by  the  Tartars,  in  its  better  days,  Kutchuk 
Stamboul  (little  Constantinople).  I  often  asked  different  persons 
what  its  former  population  was  ;  particularly  an  old  Indian  who 
had  been  interpreter  to  the  Khans  ;  but  the  answers  I  obtained 
were  not  such  as  I  could  credit.  Yet  he  and  the  Tartar  peasants 
were  in  the  same  story,  that  it  had  formerly  consisted  of  sixteen 
thousand  houses.  All  the  Tartars  attributed  its  desolation  to  the 
calamities  brought  on  it  by  the  Russian  garrison,  who  tore  off  the 
roofs  of  the  houses,  where  they  were  quartered,  for  fire-wood. 
I  was  told  by  a  Suabian  settler  that  wood  was  chiefly  brought 
from  Old  Krim  and  was  very  dear ;  the  winters  he  complained  of 
as  cold.  Corn  is  dear,  and  comes  chiefly  from  the  Don,  Animal 
food  is  not  so  plentiful  as  I  should  have  supposed.  A  young  man, 
who  was  employed  to  buy  stores  for  Mr.  Eaton  the  contractor, 
stated  the  price  of  beef  in  the  market  of  Caffa  to  be  ten  or  fifteen 
copeks  the  pound,  or  sometimes  more,  and  the  supply  irregular. 
About  three  miles  from  CafFa  is  a  small  village  of  German  colonists, 
who  were  very  poor  and  desponding ;  the  number  might  be  twelve 
families,  who  were  then  on  their  farms,  the  rest  having  gone  into 
service  or  to  sea.  General  Fanshaw,  to  whom  we  had  a  letter,  was 
at  Petersburg,  so  that  I  am  unable  to  give  so  good  an  account  of 
CafFa  as  if  I  had  the  means  of  deriving  information  from  him.  His 
object  was  to  estabhsh  a  bank  at  CafFa,  and  finally  to  arrange  the 
intercourse  with  the  Don  by  way  of  Arabat.  The  merchants  of 
VOL.  I.  Mm 


266  POLISH  JEW  INTERPRETER. 

CHAP.     CafFa  were,  as  usual,  excessively  sanguine,  and  confident  of  the 
^  III.  . 

1800.      success  of  their  scheme ;  and  we  heard  a  du-ect  contrary  story  to 

the  one  we  were  taught  at  Taganrog.  We  could  not  learn  whe- 
ther Arabat  had  a  safe  harbour ;  the  road  from  CafFa  thither  is 
level,  and,  if  necessary,  a  rail-road  might  be  put  up  at  no  great 
expense,  as  it  would  come  by  water  from  Lugan.  The  bay  of 
Caffa  is  rather  exposed  to  the  south-east ;  but  we  were  assured  they 
had  very  seldom  high  winds  from  that  quarter,  and  that  accidents 
had  been  never  known  to  happen.  A  small  vessel,  of  the  kind 
which  Russia  fitted  out  in  numbers  during  the  Turkish  war,  with 
one  mast  and  a  vast  lateen  sail,  was  lying  in  the  harbour  to  take  a 
Scotchman,  named  Macmaster,  to  Immeretta,  where,  and  at  Trebi- 
zond,  he  was  to  act  as  a  sort  of  consid  to  an  association  which  had 
just  opened  a  trade  there. 

"  At  CafFa  we  obtained  an  order  from  the  government  for 
horses  from  the  Tartar  villages,  at  the  rate  of  two  copeks  a  verst 
per  horse.  The  order  was  in  Turkish  ;  the  date  was  explained  to 
us,  '  from  our  healthy  city  of  CafFa,'  which  I  conclude  was  its 
ancient  distinction.  The  elder,  or  constable  of  each  village  is 
named  '  ombaska ;'  but  I  write  the  Tartar  words  from  ear  only. 
The  road  is  not  interesting  till  after  you  have  passed  Old  Krim, 
though  there  is  a  gradual  improvement  in  the  cultivation.  Old 
Krim,  we  were  told,  is  so  called  because  the  Tartars  believe  it  to 
have  been  the  ancient  capital  of  the  peninsula.  It  is  now  a  village 
of  fifty  houses  at  most,  inhabited  entirely  by  Armenians  ;  but  the 
Mohamedan  ruins  are  extensive ;  there  are  three  mosques,  and 
what  appears  to  have  been  a  bath.  The  neighbouring  peasants 
are  all  Tartars. 

"  In  the  first  stage  towards  Sudak  a  building  presents  itself  on 
the  left  hand,  in  a  beautiful  situation  among  the  woods,  on  the  side 
of  a  steep  hill,  which  our  Tartar  gviide  said  had  been  an  Armenian 
convent.  We  conversed  with  the  Tartars  by  an  interpreter,  whom 
we  hired  at  CafFa ;  he  was  a  Polish  Jew,  but  had  resided  several 
years  at  Constantinople.     Nothing  could  be  more  interesting,  and 


SUDAK— DR.  PALLAS.  2G7 

to  US  novel,  than  the  prospect,  and  the  appearance  of  every  one  chap. 
we  met.  A  mnza,  or  noble,  one  of  the  few  who  still  remain  in  the  '"»"• 
country,  overtook  us ;  and  I  was  delighted  at  being  addressed 
for  the  first  time  by  the  oriental  salani,  with  which  we  were  after- 
wards saluted  by  all  the  passengers.  In  this  part  of  the  country 
I  saw  only  one  camel,  a  she  one,  and  kept  for  her  milk ;  the  roads  are 
too  steep  and  rocky  for  them.  The  common  cart  had  two  wheels, 
and  was  drawTi  by  two  oxen  abreast,  like  a  curricle ;  it  was  light 
but  spacious.  This  is  only  seen  as  far  as  Sudak ;  afterwards  the 
hills  are  too  steep  for  any  wheel  carriage.  We  passed  a  day  with 
Dr.  Pallas  at  Sudak,  who  asked  much  about  Messrs.  Clarke  and 
Cripps.  The  beauty  of  this  celebrated  valley  rather  disappointed 
us,  except  as  far  as  the  vineyards  are  concerned,  which  are  more 
extensive  and  finer  than  any  we  saw  besides.  Dr.  Pallas  said  that 
the  wine  made  by  the  Tartars  was  spoiled  by  the  over-irrigation  of 
their  vineyards,  which  increased  the  size  of  the  grapes,  but  injvu'ed 
theu*  flavour.  The  wine  we  tasted  was  all  poor  and  hungry,  Sudak, 
or,  as  it  was  explained  to  me,  the  '  hill  of  the  fountain,'  is  a  small 
village,  peopled  by  a  few  families  of  Greeks,  with  a  very  small  and 
insecure  harbour.  The  castle,  which  is  ruinous,  stands  on  a  high 
insulated  rock,  on  the  east  of  the  town ;  at  the  foot  is  a  beauti- 
ful spring,  preserved  in  a  large  cistern,  with  a  metal  cup  chained 
to  it.  I  suppose  this  is  the  harbour  mentioned  by  Arrian  as  pos- 
sessed by  Scythian  pirates,  between  Theodosia  and  Lampat. 
There  is  a  small  but  handsome  mosque,  still  entire,  in  the  castle. 
I  saw  nothing  which  could  be  referred  to  a  higher  antiquity  than 
the  Genoese,  nor  any  thing  which  I  could  rely  on  as  even  so  old 
as  their  erections.  It  is  only  after  Sudak  that  the  real  mountaineer 
features  and  habits  appear  to  begin.  In  the  vale  of  Oluz,  or  Sudak, 
very  few  of  the  cottages  are  flat-roofed,  and  all  the  better  sort  of 
farm-houses  are  tiled. 

"  At  Kaya,  the  next  stage,  and  from  thence  to  Baydar,  the 
buildings  have  flat  roofs,  except  the  mosques,  which  are  tiled; 
generally  with  gable  ends,  and  surrounded  by  a  wooden  portico. 

M  m  2 


268  LAMBAT— PARTENAK. 


CHAP.    This  distinction  between  the  roofs  of  private  and  pubhc  buildings 

\  1 1  !• 

^^"^-      is  mentioned  by  Aristophanes  as  existing  in  Athens  : 


wairep  iv  lepoig  oiKrjiriTe 


Tag  yap  Vjuwv  oiKiag  ipt^oj^iv  IIPOS  AETON.    Opvifl.  1109 — 10. 

"  The  houses  are  generally  piled  up  one  above  another,  half 
under  ground,  along  the  sides  of  hills.  They  are  composed  of 
clay,  and  the  villages  resemble  rabbit-warrens.  Irrigation  is  prac- 
tised universally,  and  with  apparent  skill,  where  the  vineyards  are 
planted.  Very  little  corn  is  grown ;  but  the  valleys  are  literally 
woods  of  fruit-trees.  Water  is  abundant ;  and  near  many  of  the 
best  wells  seats  of  earth  are  made,  and  bowls  left  for  way-faring 
men  to  drink.  There  are  wolves  and  foxes,  and,  of  course,  game 
is  not  very  plentiful ;  but  there  are  hares,  and  a  few  partridges. 

"  Between  Lambat  and  Aliuschta  is  the  way  to  ascend  Chatyr 
Dagh,  which  we  missed  seeing  by  the  blunder  of  our  Jewish  inter- 
preter. Somewhere  between  Sudak  and  Lambat  (Lampas,)  is  a 
rock,  which  from  its  fancied  resemblance  to  a  ship,  is  believed  to 
have  been  a  vessel  which,  with  its  crew,  was  turned  into  stone.  We 
endeavoured  to  learn  the  legend,  but  could  not  depend  on  the  in- 
terpretation of  our  Jew,  who  was  very  much  fatigued,  and,  at  that 
time,  very  stupid. 

"  Lambat  is  situated  on  a  rocky  promontory  which  forms  the 
east  shore  of  a  fine  bay,  amidst  some  of  the  grandest  scenery  in  the 
Crimea,  having  Chatyr  Dagh  on  the  right,  and  in  front  a  beautiful 
promontory  called  Ayou  Dagh,  or  '  bear  hill.'  This  is  connected 
with  the  range  of  Chatyr  Dagh  by  a  rocky  isthmus  covered  with 
wood,  and  is  itself  peninsular ;  resembling,  though  on  a  grander 
scale,  Ormes'  Head  in  Carnarvonshu-e.  The  isthmus,  however, 
though  much  lower  than  the  hills,  is  itself  of  great  height,  in  which 
respect  it  differs  from  that  spot.  At  the  foot  of  the  isthmus,  in  a 
beautiful  wood  of  walnut-trees,  stands  Partenak,  a  village  with  a 
good  harbour  for  small  vessels,  formed  by  a  high  rocky  island. 
Here  we  found  an  old  Tartar  who  was  in  great  practice  as  a  boat- 


AYOU  DAGH— SUGAR  FROM  THE  WALNUT  TREE.  269 

builder  ;  and  had,  with  his  own  hands,  and  the  assistance  of  his  two     chap. 

.  .  VIII. 

sons,  just  finished  a  beautiful  schooner  of,  I  should  guess,  thirty  •""a 
tons,  for  a  merchant  at  CafFa.  The  usual  vessels  of  the  country 
are  Hke  the  Turkish,  with  lateen  sails,  and  high  prows,  and  poops 
very  much  curved.  I  was  so  much  struck  with  Ayou  Dagh,  that  I 
could  not  help  fancying  that  it  was  the  Criu-metopon  of  Strabo. 
A  steep  and  narrow  path  leads  over  the  neck  of  the  mountain  from 
Partenak.  From  the  summit  we  saw,  as  we  fancied,  and  as  the 
Tartars  assmed  us,  the  whole  way  from  Kutchuk  Koe  to  the 
Bosphorus. 

"  Kutchuk-koe  is  a  village  on  the  most  southern  point  of  the 
Crimea,  and  is  so  called  to  distinguish  it  from  another  koe,  Deryk- 
koe,  which  stands  on  the  hill  above  Hialta.  Deryk-koe  is  the 
fountain  represented  in  my  drawing ',  which  lies  in  the  highway 
between  Nikita  Bourun  and  Deryk-koe.  Hialta,  a  miserable  village 
of  Greeks,  with  a  small  Greek  Church,  lies  to  the  left,  and  beyond 
Deryk-koe,  in  the  way  which  branches  off  to  Batchiserai,  is  a 
village  of  Russians,  belonging,  I  believe,  to  Admiral  Mordvinof. 

"  Above  Kutchuk-koe  the  rocks  become  much  more  perpendi- 
cular and  naked  ;  and  if  this  be  the  Criii-metopon,  the  name  may 
have  been  derived  from  their  high  and  bold  forehead.  It  is  evident 
from  Strabo  that  this  famous  promontory  was  eastward  of  the 
^vfi^o\(op  Xifu^v,  which  I  suppose  is  Balaclava ;  and  therefore  we 
have  only  Kutchuk-koe  and  Ayou  Dagh  to  choose  between. 

"  There  is  a  small  ruined  fort  above  Gurzun,  of  which  Pallas 
has  given  a  good  description.  The  forests  in  this  tract  are  not 
of  a  very  lofty  growth ;  firs,  however,  and  some  oaks  are  found, 
and  magnificent  walnut-trees.  The  Tartars,  in  spring,  when  the 
sap  is  rising,  pierce  the  wahiut-trees,  and  put  in  a  spigot  for  some 
time ;  when  this  is  withdrawn,  a  clear  sweet  liquor  flows  out,  which, 
when  coagulated,  they  use  as  sugar.  In  different  places  we  saw  a 
few  cypress  trees  growing  in  the  burial-grounds ;  they  were  pointed 
out  to  us  as  rarities,  and  brought  fi*om  Stamboul.  Below  Koriess, 
on  the  plains  above  the  sea-coast,  are  some  fine  olive-trees.    Lom- 

'  See  the  quarto  edition  of  Dr.  Clarke's  Travels  in  Russia. 


•270  VALE  OF  BAIDAR— AKTIAR. 


CHAP,  bardy  poplars  abound  every  where  and  are  very  beautiful.  The 
'"»«■  people  of  Lanibat  complained  that  they  were  not  allowed  to  cut 
down  or  sell  their  timber,  not  even  to  CafFa.  I  never  could  learn 
the  reason  of  this  restriction.  In  the  neighbourhood  of  Aktiar,  no 
such  care  had  been  taken  of  the  trees,  as  not  even  a  shrub  had 
been  left  for  miles. 

"  From  Balaclava  we  went  to  see  the  vale  of  Baidar.  This 
famous  valley  belongs  to  Admiral  Mordvinof ;  but  his  possession 
was  contested  when  we  were  there,  and  the  rents  were  paid  to 
government  in  deposit.  Many  of  the  Russian  proprietors  of 
the  Crimea  were  in  the  same  condition,  owing  to  the  following 
circumstances,  as  they  were  represented  to  me  by  the  Comte 
de  Rochfort,  who  was  nephew  to  the  Due  de  Richelieu.  Under 
the  terrours  of  conquest,  the  Tartar  proprietors  made  little 
opposition  to  the  grants  which  were  given  of  their  lands  ;  but  now 
that  they  are  again  in  some  measure  restored  to  their  rights,  such 
as  did  not  come  properly  under  the  description  of  emigrants  have 
commenced  processes  to  obtain  a  reversion  of  their  forfeitures,  which 
was  a  very  unexpected  blow  to  their  masters.  The  Russians,  since 
the  conquest,  have  established  their  abominable  code  of  slavery ; 
but  not  on  so  rigid  a  footing  as  in  their  own  country.  Two  days  a 
week,  we  understood  from  Pallas,  is  all  the  work  a  Tartar  is  obliged 
to  do  gratis  for  his  lord ;  and  the  Russians  complain  heavily  of 
their  idleness.  The  mountaineers  are  almost  all  either  entirely  free- 
holders, or  on  the  footing  of  peasants  of  the  crown.  The  number 
of  Russian  residents  in  the  Crimea  is  reduced  greatly.  Some  have 
taken  alarm  at  the  tenure  of  their  lands  ;  others  have  sustained 
great  losses  by  their  slaves  running  away,  some  of  whom  are 
received  and  concealed  by  the  Cuban  Cossaks  ;  this,  however, 
is  now  jjrevented  by  the  Due  de  Richelieu's  government,  which 
includes  the  whole  country  up  to  Caucasus  and  the  Caspian. 

"  From  Balaclava  we  proceeded  to  Aktiar,  so  called  from  its 
white  rocks.  The  old  town  stood,  as  we  were  told,  on  the  north 
of  the  harbour,  where  there  are  no  remains  of  any  consequence. 
No  vessels  are  built  here,  as  all  the  timber  must  be  floated  down 

9 


BATCHISERAI.  071 


the  Bog  or  Dnieper.  A  regulation  had  been  made  proliibiting  the  (  hai*. 
entrance  of  merchant  vessels  into  the  harbour,  unless  in  positive  i»»"- 
distress ;  a  strange  way  of  proceeding  when  compared  with  the 
general  policy  of  European  governments.  The  reason  assigned 
was  the  embezzlement  of  the  public  stores,  which  were  sold  to  the 
merchants  by  the  government  officers  without  shame.  The  effect 
has  been  to  check  entirely  the  prosperity  of  the  town ;  and  to 
raise  every  foreign  cominodity  to  a  most  extravagant  price.  Even 
provisions  cannot  be  brought  by  sea  without  a  special  licence. 
This  information  I  derived  from  the  port  admiral,  Bandakof,  and 
from  an  English  officer  in  the  Russian  service.  The  natural 
advantages  of  the  harbour  are  truly  surprising  ;  and  the  largest 
vessels  lie  within  a  cable's  length  of  the  shore.  The  harbour  is 
divided  into  three  coves,  affording  shelter  in  every  wind,  and 
favourable  situations  for  repairs,  building,  &c.  On  a  tongue  of 
high  land  between  the  two  southern  creeks,  stand  the  admiralty 
and  store-houses,  and  on  the  opposite  side  is  the  town.  The 
principal  arm  of  the  harbour  runs  east,  and  is  terminated  by  the 
valley  and  little  river  of  Inkerman.  There  are  some  formidable 
batteries,  and  the  mouth  of  the  harbour  is  very  easy  of  defence. 
The  old  and  unserviceable  cannon  are  broken  into  small  pieces  by 
being  raised  to  a  great  height,  and  suffered  to  fall  on  a  bed  of 
masonry ;  they  are  then  sent,  as  we  are  told,  to  Lugan  to  be  new 
cast.  To  build  a  ship  in  the  Black  Sea  costs  half  as  much  again 
as  to  construct  it  at  Cronstadt,  the  wood  coming  from  so  great  a 
distance. 

"  Batchiserai  is  entirely  inhabited  by  Tartars,  Jews,  and 
Armenians,  and  is  the  most  populous  place  we  saw  in  the  Crimea. 
It  has  several  mosques,  besides  a  very  fine  one  in  the  seraglio, 
wdth  two  minarets,  the  mark  of  royalty.  There  are  some  decent 
cutlers'  shops,  and  some  manufiictories  of  felt,  carpets,  and  one  of 
red  and  yellow  leather.  The  houses  are  almost  universally  of 
wood  and  ill-baked  bricks,  with  wooden  piazzas,  and  shelving 
roofs  of  red  tile.  There  is  a  new  Church  dedicated  to  St.  George, 
but  the  most  striking  feature  is  the  palace,  which,  though  neither 


07-2  BATCHISERAI  PALACE-JEWS'  ROCK. 


CHAP,  large  nor  regular,  yet,  by  the  picturesque  style  of  its  architecture, 
•8««-  its  carving  and  gilding,  its  Arabic  and  Turkish  inscriptions,  and 
the  fountains  of  beautiful  water  in  every  court,  interested  me  more 
than  I  can  express.  The  apartments,  except  the  hall  of  justice, 
are  low  and  irregular.  In  one  are  a  number  of  bad  paintings, 
representing  different  views  of  Constantinople  ;  and,  to  my  sur- 
prise, birds  were  pictured,  flying,  in  violation  of  the  Mohammedan 
prohibition  to  paint  any  animal.  It  is  kept  in  tolerable  repair ; 
and  the  divans  in  the  best  rooms  are  still  furnished  with  cushions. 
One  apartment,  which  was  occupied  by  the  Empress  Catherine,  is 
fitted  up  in  a  paltry  ball-room  manner,  with  chandeliers,  &c.  and 
forms  an  exception  to  the  general  style.  The  harem  is  a  mean 
building,  separated  from  the  other  apartments  by  a  small  walled 
garden,  and  containing  a  kitchen,  with  six  or  eight  small  and  mean 
bed-rooms,  each  of  which,  (as  we  were  told  by  our  guide,  who  was 
a  Jew,  and  remembered  it  in  the  time  of  the  Khan,)  was  usually 
occupied  by  two  ladies.  In  the  garden  is  a  large  and  delightful 
kiosk,  surrounded  by  lattice-work,  with  a  divan  round  the  inside, 
the  centre  paved  with  marble  and  furnished  with  a  fountain.  The 
word  '  serai,'  or  '  seraglio,'  which  is  given  to  this  range  of  build- 
ings, seems,  in  the  Tartar  and  Turkish  language,  to  answer  to  all 
the  significations  of  our  English  word  '  court ;'  being  applied  indif- 
ferently to  the  yard  of  an  inn  or  the  enclosure  of  a  palace. 

"  The  Jews'  rock  has  been  often  described ;  it  seems  singular 
that  such  fortresses  should  have  been  possessed  by  such  a  people  ; 
yet,  in  Abyssinia,  the  Falasha  appear  similarly  situated  ;  and  Jack- 
son mentions  a  Jews'  rock  in  Morocco. 

"  Akmetchet,  or  '  white  mosque,'  now  Simpheropol,  though 
the  seat  of  government,  is  a  wretched  ruinous  place ;  it  was  for- 
merly more  extensive,  as  appears  from  its  three  mosques,  which 
stand  at  a  considerable  distance  from  each  other.  There  is  here 
a  good  view  of  the  mountain  Chatyr  Dagh. 

"  Koslof,  or  Eupatoria,  was  our  next  halting-place.  In  the 
desert  near  it  we  saw  some  parties  of  the  Nogay  Tartars,  and  had 
an  opportunity  of  examining  their  kibitkas,  which  are  shaped  some- 


KIBITKAS  OF  THE  NOGAY  TARTARS.  273 

thing  like  a  bee-hive,  consisting  of  a  frame  of  wood  covered  with     chap. 


VIII. 


felt  and  placed  upon  wheels.  They  are  smaller  and  more  clumsy  i«oc 
than  the  tents  of  the  Calmiiks,  and  do  not,  like  them,  take  to 
pieces.  In  the  Crimea  they  are  more  used  for  the  occasional  habi- 
tation of  the  shepherds,  than  for  regular  dwellings.  We  saw  a 
great  many  buffaloes  and  camels ;  several  of  the  latter  we  met 
drawing  in  the  two-wheeled  carts  described  before ;  a  service  for 
which  I  should  have  thought  them  not  so  well  adapted  as  bearing 
burthens ;  and  although  '  a  chaiiot  of  camels '  is  mentioned  by 
Isaiah,  I  do  not  remember  having  heard  of  such  a  practice  else- 
where. The  plain  of  Koslof  is  hardly  elevated  above  the  sea,  and 
fresh  water  is  very  scarce  and  bad. 

"  Perekop  is  a  miserable  station  of  only  one  or  two  houses, 
inhabited  by  the  post-master  and  custom-house  officers,  and  a 
little  barrack.  The  famous  wall  is  of  eailh,  very  lofty,  with  an 
immense  ditch.  It  stretches  in  a  straight  line  from  sea  to  sea, 
without  any  remains  of  bastions  or  flanking-towers  that  I  could 
discover.  The  '  golden  gate'  is  narrow,  and  too  low  for  an  En- 
glish waggon.  '  Golden,'  among  the  Tartars,  seems  synonymous 
with  royal ;  and  thus  we  hear  of  the  '  golden  horde,'  the  '  golden 
tent,'  &c.  Colonel  Symes  mentions  the  same  manner  of  expression 
in  Ava ;  so  that  I  suppose  it  is  common  all  over  the  east.  There 
is  only  one  well  at  Perekop,  the  water  of  which  is  brackish  and 
muddy.  A  string  of  near  two  hundred  kibitkas  was  passing,  laden 
with  salt,  and  drawn  by  oxen  ;  they  were  driven  by  Malo-Russians, 
who  had  brought  corn  into  the  Crimea,  and  were  returning  with 
their  present  cargo.  White  or  clarified  salt  is  vmknown  in  the 
south  of  Russia  ;  it  appears,  even  on  the  best  tables,  with  the 
greater  part  of  its  impurities  adhering,  and,  consequently,  quite 
brown.  Kibitkas  laden  with  this  commodity  form  a  kind  of  cara- 
van. They  seldom  go  out  of  their  way  for  a  town  or  a  village,  but 
perform  long  journeys  ;  the  diivers  only  sheltered  at  night  on  the 
lee  side  of  their  carriages,  and  stretched  on  the  grass.  During  the 
independence  of  the  Crimea,  (an  old  officer  told  me)  these  people 
were  always  armed,  and  travelled  without  fear  of  the  Tartars, 
VOL.  I.  N    n  . 


271  .     CHARACTER  OF  TARTARS. 


CHAP,  drawing  up  their  waggons  every  night  in  a  circle,  and  keeping 
'»»"■  regular  sentries.  We  here,  with  great  regret,  quitted  the  Crimea 
and  its  pleasing  inhabitants  ;  it  was  really  like  being  turned  out  of 
paradise,  when  we  abandoned  these  beautiful  mountains,  and  again 
found  ourselves  in  the  vast  green  desert,  which  had  before  tired  us 
so  thoroughly  ;  when  we  changed  olives  and  cypresses,  clear  water 
and  fresh  milk,  for  the  reeds,  long  grass,  and  the  drainings  of 
marshes,  only  made  not  poisonovis  by  being  mixed  with  brandy ; 
and  when,  instead  of  a  clean  carpet  at  night,  and  a  supper  of  eggs, 
butter,  honey,  and  sweetmeats,  we  returned  to  the  seat  of  our 
carriage,  and  the  remainder  of  our  old  cheese. 

"  Pallas  has  properly  distinguished  the  two  distinct  races  of 
Tartars,  the  Nogays  and  the  mountaineers.  These  last,  however, 
appeared  to  me  to  resemble  in  their  persons  the  Turks  and  the 
Tartars  of  Kostroma  and  Yaroslav.  They  are  a  fair  and  handsome 
people ;  like  the  Tartars  in  the  north  of  Russia,  they  are  given 
to  agriculture  and  commerce ;  and  here,  as  well  as  there,  decidedly 
different  from  the  Nogays  and  other  Mongul  tribes.  The  Nogays, 
however,  in  the  Crimea,  appear  to  have  greatly  improved  their  breed 
by  intermarriages  with  the  original  inhabitants,  being  much  hand- 
somer and  taller  than  those  to  the  north  of  the  Golden  Gate. 
The  mountaineers  have  large  bushy  beards  when  old  ;  the  Tartars 
of  the  plain  seldom  possess  more  than  a  few  thin  hairs.  The 
mountaineers  are  clumsy  horsemen,  in  which  they  resemble  the 
northern  Tartars.  Their  neighbours  ride  very  boldly  and  well. 
I  had  an  opportunity  of  seeing  two  Nogay  shepherd-boys,  who 
were  galloping  their  horses  near  Koslof,  and  who  showed  an 
agility  and  dexterity  which  were  really  surprising.  While  the 
horse  was  in  full  speed  they  sprung  from  their  seats,  stood  upright 
on  the  saddle,  leapt  on  the  ground  and  again  into  the  saddle, 
threw  their  whips  to  some  distance  and  caught  them  up  from  the 
ground.  What  was  more  remarkable,  we  ascertained  that  they 
were  merely  shepherds,  and  that  these  accomplishments  were  not 
extraordmary.  Both  mountaineers  and  shepherds  are  amiable, 
gentle,  and  hospitable,  except  where  they  have  been  soured  by 

7 


TARTAR  WOMEN.  375 

their  Russian  masters.     We  never  approached  a  village  at  night-     ^■}},^,^- 


VIII. 


fall  where  we  were  not  requested  to  lodge ;  or  in  the  day-time  ^^*^'^- 
without  being  invited  to  eat  and  drink ;  and  while  they  were  thus 
attentive,  they  uniformly  seemed  careless  about  payment,  even  for 
the  horses  they  furnished  ;  never  counting  the  money,  and  often 
offering  to  go  away  without  it.  They  are  steady  in  refusing 
Russian  money  ;  and  it  is  necessary  to  procure  a  sufficient  stock  of 
usluks,  paras,  and  sequins.  This  is  not  their  only  way  of  showing 
their  dislike  to  their  new  masters  ;  at  one  village  we  were  surprised 
at  our  scanty  fare,  and  at  the  reluctance  with  which  every  thing 
was  furnished,  till  we  learned  that  they  had  mistaken  us  for 
Russian  officers.  On  finding  that  we  were  foreigners,  the  eggs, 
melted  butter,  nardek  and  bekmiss  came  in  profusion.  General 
Bardakof  told  us  they  were  fond  of  talking  politics ;  when  we 
addressed  them  on  this  subject,  they  were  reserved,  and  affected 
an  ignorance  greater  than  I  thought  likely  or  natural.  Pallas 
complained  of  them  as  disaffected,  and  spoke  much  of  their 
idleness.  Yet  their  vineyards  are  very  neatly  kept  and  carefully 
watered ;  and,  what  is  hardly  a  sign  of  indolence,  their  houses, 
clothes  and  persons  are  uniformly  clean.  But  his  account  seemed 
to  me  by  no  means  sufficiently  favourable.  They  are,  I  appre- 
hend, a  healthy  race  ;  but  we  met  with  one  instance  where  a  slight 
wound  had,  by  neglect,  become  very  painful  and  dangerous.  On 
asking  what  remedies  they  had  for  diseases,  they  returned  a 
remarkable  answer ;  '  We  lay  down  the  sick  man  on  a  bed ;  and, 
if  it  please  God,  he  recovers.     Allah  Kerim !' 

"  Their  women  are  concealed  even  more,  the  Due  de  Riche- 
lieu said,  than  the  wives  of  I'urkish  peasants  ;  and  are  greatly 
agitated  and  distressed  if  seen,  for  a  moment,  without  a  veil. 
Like  the  men  they  have  very  fair  and  clear  complexions,  with 
dark  eyes  and  hair,  and  aquiline  noses.  Among  the  men  were 
some  figures  which  might  have  served  for  models  of  a  Hercules  ; 
and  the  mountaineers  have  a  very  strong  and  nimble  step  in 
walking.  An  imam,  who  wears  a  green  turban,  and  who  is  also 
generally  the  schoolmaster,  is  in  every  village.     Not  many,  how- 

N  n  2 


276  BEEISLAV— CHERSON. 


cHAi'.    ever,  of  the  peasants  could  read  or  write  ;  and  they  seemed  to  pay 
»806-      but  httle  attention  to  the  regvdar  hours  of  prayer. 

"  Our  road  to  Berislav  lay  across  lakes  and  brooks,  and  termi- 
nated in  a  sandy  desert,  which,  during  the  rains,  is  often  inundated ; 
this  extended  to  the  banks  of  the  Dnieper,  which  having  crossed, 
we  ascended  to  Berislav.  It  is  a  small  town,  founded  on  a  regular 
plan  by  the  empress  Catherine,  on  a  fine  sloping  bank  near  the 
river,  with  a  floating  bridge  which  is  removed  every  winter.  The 
Dnieper,  like  the  Don,  is  navigated  in  double  canoes,  composed  of 
two  very  narrow  ones,  often  hollowed  out  of  trees,  and  united  by 
a  stage.  The  town  has  wide  streets  at  right  angles  with  each 
other;  but  the  houses  are  mostly  miserable  wooden  huts.  The 
country  around  is  all  good  land,  but  destitute  of  water ;  there  are, 
however,  many  villages,  and  many  acres  of  cultivated  land  along  the 
banks  of  the  river ;  and  wherever  there  is  a  well,  there  is  generally 
a  small  cluster  of  houses  attracted  by  such  a  treasure.  On  the  side 
of  the  Dnieper  begins  the  regular  series  of  Jews'  houses,  which  are 
the  only  taverns  or  inns  from  hence  all  the  way  into  Austria. 
Jews,  in  every  part  of  Little  and  New  Russia,  abound.  In  Muscovy 
they  are  very  uncommon. 

"  From  Berislav  to  Cherson  the  road  lay  over  a  continued 
series  of  steppes,  only  varied  in  one  instance  by  a  large  extent  of 
stagnant  water,  which  threatened  fever  and  death  to  the  traveller. 
Cherson  is  gradually  sinking  into  decay  from  the  unhealthiness  of 
its  situation,  and  still  more  from  the  preference  given  to  Odessa. 
Yet  timber,  corn,  hemp,  and  other  articles  of  exportation  are  so 
much  cheaper  and  more  plentiful  here,  that  many  foreign  vessels 
still  prefer  this  port,  though  they  are  obliged  by  government  first 
to  perform  quarantine,  and  unload  their  cargoes  at  Odessa.  Corn 
is  cheap  and  plentiful ;  but  timl^er  much  dearer  than  in  the  north, 
as  the  cataracts  of  the  Dnieper  generally  impede  its  being  floated 
down.  There  is  a  noble  forest  which  we  saw  in  Podolia,  not  far 
from  the  Bog,  a  beautiful  river,  unincumbered  by  cataracts  ;  but  as 
some  land-carriage  would  be  necessary,  it  is  as  yet  almost  '  Intacta 
securiJ     The  arsenal  at  Cherson  is  extensive  and  interesting  ;  it 


TOMB  OF  HOWARD.  277 

contains  a  nionvnnent  to  Potemkin,  its  founder.     Two  frigates  and    chap. 

VIII. 

a  seventy-four  were  building ;  on  account  of  the  bar,  they  are  '"oc. 
floated  down  to  the  Liman  on  camels,  as  at  Petersburg.  Nothing 
can  be  more  dreary  than  the  prospect  of  the  river,  which  forms 
many  streams,  flowing  through  marshy  islands,  where  the  masts  of 
vessels  are  seen  rising  from  amid  brush-wood  and  tall  reeds.  In 
these  islands  are  many  wild-boars,  which  are  often  seen  swimming 
from  one  to  the  other. 

"  No  foreign  merchants  of  any  consequence  remain  here ; 
those  who  transact  business  at  the  port  do  it  by  clerks  and  super- 
cargoes. My  mformation  respecting  Cherson  was  chiefly  derived 
from  a  Scotchman  named  Geddes.  The  tomb  of  Howard  is  in  the 
desert,  about  a  mile  from  the  town  ;  it  was  built  by  Admiral  Mor- 
dvinof,  and  is  a  small  brick  pyramid,  whitewashed,  but  without  any 
inscription ;  he  himself  fixed  on  the  spot  of  his  interment.  He  had 
built  a  small  hut  on  this  part  of  the  steppe,  where  he  passed  much 
of  liis  time,  as  being  the  most  healthy  spot  in  the  neighbour- 
hood. The  English  burial-service  was  read  over  him  by  Admhal 
Priestman,  from  whom  I  had  these  particulars.  Two  small  villas 
have  been  built  at  no  great  distance,  I  suppose,  also,  fi-om  the 
healthiness  of  the  situation,  as  it  has  nothing  else  to  recommend  it. 
Howard  was  spoken  of  with  exceeding  respect  and  affection  by  all 
who  remembered  or  knew  him ;  and  they  were  many. 

"  Nicolaef,  on  the  Bog,  about  sixty  versts  from  Cherson,  is  a 
rising  town,  very  advantageously  situated;  being  without  the  bar  of 
the  Dnieper,  it  is  the  station  for  vessels  when  built,  and  here  they 
are  laid  up  to  be  repaked.  Nothmg,  I  should  think,  but  the  expence 
of  new  dock-yards  induces  government  to  persevere  in  theh  system 
of  building  vessels  at  Cherson,  when  this  neighbouring  town  has 
so  many  superior  advantages.  It  has  a  fine  river,  without  either 
bar  or  cataract,  deep  still  water,  and  a  healthy  situation.  Vessels, 
however,  are  said  to  decay  sooner  than  at  Sebastopol. 

"  The  road  to  Odessa  lies  over  a  flat  steppe,  with  several 
streams  intersecting  it,  inlets  of  the  sea,  and  some  large  salt-water 
lakes.     Odessa  is  a  very  interesting  place,  and  being  the  seat  of 


•>7S  ODESSA. 


CHAR  government,  and  the  only  quarantine  allowed,  except  Caffa  and 
'80C-  Taganrog,  is,  though  of  very  late  erection,  already  wealthy  and 
flourishing.  Too  much  praise  cannot  be  given  to  the  Due  de 
Richelieu,  to  whose  administration,  not  to  any  natural  advantages, 
this  town  owes  its  prosperity.  The  bay  is  good  and  secure,  but  all 
around  is  desert ;  and  it  labours  under  the  want  of  a  navigable  river, 
and  a  great  scarcity  of  fresh  water.  There  are  two  wells  in  the 
town,  both  brackish,  and  a  third,  a  very  fine  one,  on  the  opposite 
side  of  the  bay ;  a  fourth  had  just  been  discovered  when  I  was 
there,  in  the  garden  of  an  Italian  merchant,  and  was  talked  of  like 
a  silver  mine.  All  commodities  are  either  brought  in  barks  from 
Cherson,  or  drawn  over  the  steppe  by  oxen,  who  were  seen  lying 
in  the  streets  and  on  the  new  quay,  greatly  exhausted  with  thirst, 
and  almost  furious  in  their  struggles  to  get  at  the  water  when  it 
was  poui-ed  into  the  troughs.  The  situation  of  the  town,  how- 
ever, is  healthy  and  pleasant  in  other  respects  ;  the  quarantine  is 
large  and  well-constructed. 

"  As  far  as  I  could  learn,  and  I  made  many  enquiries,  it  was 
very  bad  policy  to  fix  their  quarantine  in  Odessa  instead  of  Otch- 
akof,  where  were  a  city  and  a  fortress  ready  built,  in  a  situation 
perfectly  secure  from  the  Turks  ;  and  which,  lying  at  the  junction 
of  the  Bog  and  Dnieper,  is  the  natural  emporium  of  these  seas. 
The  harbour,  I  understand,  is  perfectly  secure ;  and  even  if  the 
Liman  were  unsafe,  the  Bog  affords  a  constant  shelter.  The  objec- 
tion generally  made  was  the  necessity  of  a  secure  quarantine ;  to 
which  it  was  answered,  that  the  point  of  Kinburn  afforded  a  situ- 
ation even  more  secure  than  Odessa.  If  these  facts  are  true,  a 
wise  Government  would,  probably,  without  discouragmg  Odessa, 
restore  the  quarantine  to  Otchakof,  and  allow  them  both  to  take 
their  chance  in  a  fair  competition.  This,  however,  seems  little 
understood  in  Russia.  Potemkin  had  no  idea  of  encouraging 
Cherson  but  by  ruining  Taganrog  ;  and,  at  present,  Cherson  is  to 
be  sacrificed  to  the  new  favovuite,  Odessa." 


PODOLIA— JEWS,  279 


To  Richard  Heher,  Esq. 

Leopold,  Jitnc  17,  1806. 

"  My  Dear  Brother, 

"  I  wrote  two  letters  from  Odessa,  both  of  which  I 
hope  you  would  receive,  though  they  went  by  two  very  different 
ways.  We  have  been  since  engaged  in  a  slow,  though  not  an  un- 
pleasant journey  through  Poland  ;  of  the  Austrian  share  of  which, 
Leopold,  or  Lemberg  as  it  is  sometimes  called,  is  the  capital. 
The  post  from  Odessa  to  the  frontier  of  the  Russian  empire  is  so 
uncertain,  that  we  were  advised  at  Odessa  to  hire  horses  to  carry 
us  to  the  Austrian  town  of  Brody.  You  may  conceive  that  a  jour- 
ney of  four  hundred  miles,  with  the  same  bad  horses,  would  be  a 
work  of  time.  As  far  as  Balta,  the  ancient  frontier  of  Poland,  we 
had  nothing  but  the  same  melancholy  plains,  uninhabited,  except 
by  a  few  Cossaks,  who  manage  the  hordes  of  horses  and  camels. 
On  this  side  Balta  we  found,  however,  a  very  rapid  change  for  the 
better.  No  part  of  Ancient  Russia,  that  I  have  seen,  except,  per- 
haps, some  part  of  the  province  of  Yaroslav,  can  at  all  compare  in 
fertility  or  beauty  with  her  Polish  acquisitions.  Not  the  banks  of 
the  Volga,  nor  even  the  Crimea  itself,  have  any  thing  like  the  oak 
woods  and  corn-fields  of  Podolia.  The  difference  which  princi- 
pally struck  us  was  in  the  appearance  of  the  houses  and  towns, 
the  paved  and  narrow  streets,  the  crucifixes  by  the  road  side,  the 
monasteries,  the  Latin  inscriptions,  and  the  other  marks  of  a  dif- 
ferent religion,  and  habits  more  nearly  approaching  the  rest  of 
Europe.  A  majority  of  the  lower  class  are,  however,  of  the  Greek 
religion,  and  several  of  the  village  Churches  were  rude  imitations 
of  the  cupola  of  which  the  Russians  are  so  fond.  The  number  of 
Jews  likewise  is  very  striking  ;  in  Muscovy,  properly  so  called, 
they  are  never  seen  ;  in  Little  and  New  Russia  they  begin  to 
appear ;  but  in  this  part  of  Poland  I  verily  believe  they  constitute 
one-tliird  of  the  whole  population.  All  the  inns  are  kept  by  them ; 
and  we  had  heard  horrible  accounts  of  their  dirt  and  misery.     To 


CHAP 

Via. 

1806. 


280  BRODY. 

CHAP,    us,  however,  having  been  well  drilled  to  endure  both,  they  were 

VIII.  '  'to  '  ^ 

1800.  very  tolerable  indeed.  We  were  always  able  to  get,  at  least, 
clean  straw  and  decent  victuals,  and  these  were  no  small  luxury. 
The  peasants  are  very  poor  and  depressed.  In  Gallicia,  for  the 
first  time  in  my  life,  I  saw  women  holding  the  plough,  and  break- 
ing stones  on  the  highway.  I  know  not  to  what  circumstance  to 
attribute  this  poverty,  the  laws  being  more  indulgent  to  the  peasant 
than  in  Russia.  Their  houses,  indeed,  are  better  and  cleaner  than 
those  of  ordinary  Muscovite  peasants. 

"  We  arrived  at  Brody  a  day  after  the  Austrian,  or  as  the 
Russians  call  him  the  '  Roman'  Consul ;  we  had  been  introduced 
to  him  at  Odessa,  and  found  his  acquaintance  very  useful  in 
directing  us  to  a  good  inn,  and  getting  us,  with  less  trouble,  past 
the  custom-house.  The  Austrian  post  is  still  very  good,  though  it 
has  been  much  injured  by  the  passage  of  the  army.  Several  per- 
sons in  Leopold  have  complained  of  the  conduct  of  the  Russian 
troops  in  their  march  through  the  country  ;  but  the  peasants  seem 
to  have  been  contented  with  their  behaviour,  and  were  much 
struck  with  the  good  cloth  and  gay  uniforms  they  wore. 

"  The  covmtry  which  has  fallen  to  the  share  of  Austria  is 
more  picturesque  and  more  populous  than  that  of  Russia;  but 
apparently  not  so  fertile.  Both  wovdd,  however,  be  called  fertile 
and  beautiful  in  the  richest  part  of  England.  The  national  dress 
and  the  shaved  head  are  still  in  universal  use  among  the  lower 
classes.  Of  the  '^  plica  polonica'  we  have  only  seen  one  instance, 
and  it  is  considered  as  rare.  Among  the  nobility,  the  old  people 
are  still  shaved  and  dressed  like  their  ancestors,  in  long  cassocks, 
girt  with  a  broad  sash  ;  the  sabre,  however,  the  ancient  mark  of  a 
gentleman,  is,  since  the  partition,  rarely  worn.  '  Fuimiis  Troes' 
Leopold  is  a  very  considerable  towni,  having  30,000  inhabitants. 
It  w^as  the  favoui-ite  residence  of  John  Sobiesky,  w^hose  palace  is 
still  shown.  Charles  the  Twelfth  came  here  in  person  to  besiege 
the  town,  and  it  is  almost  needless  to  add,  was  successful. 

"  We  brought  with  us  some  good  introductions,  particularly 
a  letter  from   the  venerable  Russian  General  Michelson  to  the 


PROPOSED  ROUTE.  ogl 


governor,   an  old  Hungarian  Count  Urmeni,  whose  kindness  has    chap. 

.  .  .  VIII. 

furnished  us  with  some  letters  for  Buda.     We  intend  to  take  this      'see. 

road  to  Vienna,  as  the  last  news  from  Russia  seems  to  make  our 

return  by  Riga  inevitable.     Our  letters  of  introduction  are  dii'ected 

in  Latin,  which  language  is  still  much  used  in  Hungary.     We  are 

therefore  rubbing  up  our  phrases,  and  recollecting  our  old  exercise 

books.     '  Willimot's  Peculiars'  would  be  a  real  treasure  to  us,  or 

any  other  book  of  dialogues. 

"  We  are  told  of  difficulties  that  await  us  if  we  take  this 

route,  but  we  are  not  very  easily  alarmed,  and  these  difficulties 

are  only  those  of  getting  horses  and  beds.     A  little  exertion  will 

su])ply  the  one,  and  on  the  celebrated  hospitality  of  the  Hungarians 

we  must  rely  for  the  other.     Our  road  lies  through  the  Carpathian 

mountains,  by  Caschau,  Eslau,  and  Tokay,  (where  I  will  drink  your 

health)  to  Buda.     From  thence  to  Vienna  by  Raab  and  Presburg. 

The  way  is  short  and  the  road  excellent  along  the  bank  of  the 

Damibe.     I  promise  myself  much  pleasure  in  finding  letters  at 

Vienna.     Our  stay  there  will  not  be  long.  *  * 

*  *  *  I  shall  certainly  see  you  before  the 

All  Souls'  election. 

"  Believe  me,  my  dear  brother, 

"  Yovu's  most  affectionately, 

"  Reginald  Heber." 


VOL.  I.  o    o 


CHAPTER  IX. 


LEMBERG   TO    YARMOUTH. 


Przemisl — Dalclo  —  Hungarians  —  Gypseys  —  Mineral  waters  of  Bartpha — Castle 
hnilt  by  Ragozzi  —  Wells  —  Jews — Hungarian  peasants — Funeral — Aperies — 
Castle — Caschau — School — Tokay  wine — Szertcz — Calrinisf  Church — Number 
of  Protestants — Miskoltz — Kerestes — School — Erlau — Academy — Archbishop  of 
Agria — Count  Esterhaxy  —  Halwar  —  Buda  —  Wine  —  Danube  —  Hungarian 
dress —  Vienna — Theatres — German  literature — The  Prater — Baden — Events  of 
the  tvar — Conduct  of  French  in  Vienna — Buonaparte — Briinn — Battle  of  Aus- 
terlitz  —  Prague  —  Dresden  —  Leipsig  —  Moravians — Halle  —  Wittenberg  — 
Luther  and  Melancthon — Potsdam — Berlin — Hamburg — Yarmouth. 


CHAP.  "  Jime  \dth. — Left  Lemberg  for  Hungary.  The  country,  like  all 
isofi.  Gallicia,  is  fertile  and  pleasing,  with  woody  hills  and  a  light  chalky 
soil ;  the  trees  are  principally  fir.  A  little  to  our  right  hand  lay  a 
seat  of  the  Prince  of  Lorraine,  said  to  be  very  beautiful.  Count 
Mussy  had  given  us  a  letter  to  him,  bvit  we  were  unable  to  make 
use  of  it,  as  Thornton's  illness  rendered  it  necessary  for  us  to 
keep  the  straight  road,  and  to  see  this  place  we  must  have  made  a 
considerable  detour  out  of  the  post-road. 

"  June  20th. — About  ten  this  morning  we  arrived  at  Przemisl, 
an  ancient  town,  with  a  castle  and  palace,  both  in  ruins,  a  Cathe- 
dral, and  two  convents.  Its  history  we  could  not  learn.  It  stands 
in  a  fine  situation,  on  the  river  San,  which  is  crossed  by  a  singular 
wooden  bridge  on  three  stone  piers,  roofed  over,  and  having  the  road 
suspended  from  the  roof     The  San  rises  in  the  Carpathian  moun- 


DAKLO.  283 

tains,  and  flows  into  the  Vistula,   receiving  first  the  Vislok  and    chap. 

IX 

some  other  streams  ;  its  course  is  about  150  miles.  At  Przemisl  it  isoe. 
is  a  beautiful  stream,  as  wide  as  the  Dee  at  Overton  bridge.  A 
plan  has  been  presented  to  the  Austrian  government  for  uniting 
the  Vistula  and  Dniester  by  a  canal  drawn  from  the  latter  to  the 
San ;  its  execution  depends  very  much  on  the  demand  for  wood  at 
Odessa.  The  Dniester  is  also  considered  an  advantageous  outlet  for 
the  productions  of  Hungary  ;  during  the  summer  it  is  almost  dry, 
and  full  of  cataracts  ;  but  in  spring  and  autunm  it  is  navigable  with 
ease  and  safety.  The  Carpathian  mountains  are  covered  with  in- 
exhaustible stores  of  wood,  particularly  oak.  The  Bukovina,  it  is 
hoped,  will  gain  great  advantages  by  its  neighbourhood  to  the 
Dniester  ;  it  is  said  to  be  the  finest  part  of  the  Austrian  terri- 
tories, mountainous,  but  very  fertile,  and  with  excellent  timber. 
The  inhabitants  are  Moldavians,  and  are  described  as  a  very  hand- 
some and  amiable  race.  Several  wealthy  persons  have  purchased 
lands  there.  The  Pruth,  which  also  runs  through  the  Bukovina, 
is  navigable  for  boats;  but  the  country  through  which  it  afterwards 
flows  is  too  dangerous  to  admit  of  a  regular  communication  with 
the  sea.  Nor  do  the  Hungarians  at  all  avail  themselves  of  the 
Danube  as  a  channel  of  foreign  trade,  for  the  same  reason.  The 
San  runs  on  the  left  of  the  road  from  Przemisl.  At  about  a 
German  mile  from  the  town  stands,  on  the  left  hand,  a  large  con- 
vent, in  a  noble  situation.  The  country  is  very  hilly  and  beautiful. 
Daklo  is  a  large  village,  with  some  gentlemen's  houses ;  we 
were  provided  with  a  letter  to  the  post-master,  whom  we 
found  a  very  civil  old  man,  with  the  manners  and  appearance 
of  a  gentleman.  His  house  was  neatly  furnished,  chiefly  with  a 
kind  of  dark  wood,  of  which  I  could  not  learn  the  name.  He  was 
a  Bohemian,  and  spoke  very  ill  of  the  Hungarians.  This  class  of 
men  are  here  very  decent,  and  often  of  gentlemen's  families ;  forty 
years'  service  ennobles  them. 

"  From  Daklo  the  road  becomes  more  hilly,  and  the  country 
more  elevated  and  barren,  with  magnificent  firs.  The  cultivation 
is  good,  and  carried  up  to  the  hill  tops,  though  the  soil  is  flinty, 

o  o  2 


284  HUNGARIANS— GYPSEYS. 

CHAP,     and  the  crops  light.     The  valleys  put  me  much  in  mind  of  Whaif- 

1806-     dale.     The  Hungarian  frontier  is  three  miles  from  Daklo.     AVe 

first  passed  by  a  sort  of  custom-house,  where  our  passports  were 

examined,  but  not  our  luggage ;  they  told  us  we  should  want  no 

passports  in  Hungary. 

"  The  first  Hungarian  peasants  we  met  did  not  give  us  much 
idea  of  happiness  or  liberty ;  they  seemed  half  starved,  half  naked 
slaves,  very  wild  and  noisy ;  and  both  men  and  women  dirty  and 
ragged.  The  post-master  at  the  first  village  where  we  stopped 
spoke  Latin  fluently,  though  a  mere  peasant  and  in  rags.  We  met 
with  some  delay  in  procuring  horses,  none  being  kept  at  the  post, 
as  there  were  so  few  travellers ;  in  such  cases  peasants'  horses  are 

furnished  by  the  post-master.        *  »  *  » 

*  ****** 

*  The  posts  are  little  used,  as  the  ignoble  travel  with 
carriers'  horses,  of  which  persons  there  are  many  in  all  the  towns, 
who  supply  horses  and  carriages  to  any  distance,  at  a  price  rather 
inferior  to  the  post.  The  nobles  have  the  privilege  of  demanding 
horses  at  every  village  from  the  peasants,  which  is  called  '  raising 
the  comitatus.'  They  only  pay  a  few  florins  chink-money  every 
stage.  We  were  advised  to  send  a  '  lanssettel'  before  us  like 
the  Swedish  *  forebvid,'  but  Count  Urmeni  dissuaded  us,  saying 
we  should  always  overtake  the  avant  courier.  There  are  few 
chaussees  in  Hungary ;  they  depend  on  the  pleasure  of  the 
county  meetings  and  of  the  different  proprietors.  We  slept  at 
Orlich  at  a  miserable  Jew  inn,  wliich  was  already  full  of  guests. 
I  myself  slept  on  the  kitchen  floor  amid  the  Jew's  family. 
Thornton  preferred  the  carriage. 

"  June  ^Xst. — At  this  place  we  saw  several  famihes  of 
gypseys ;  these  people  have  here  the  same  Asiatic  features,  and 
lead  the  same  manner  of  fife  as  in  England.  They  are  very 
munerous  in  Hungary.  Our  drivers  had  been  noisy  and  saucy ; 
but  on  parting  came  to  kiss  Thornton's  hand  and  wish  him  a 
perfect  recovery.  The  language  here  and  as  far  as  Caschau,  is 
Sclavonic,  and  does  not  materially  differ  fi-om  Russian  and  Polish. 


MINERAL  WATERS  OF  BARTPHA.  285 

Thornton's   servant    could   make    himself    perfectly  understood.     tiiAP. 
Count  Mussy  informed  us  that  all  the  country  from  hence  to  the      i"»«- 
mines  at  Cremnitz,  is  inhabited  by  the  same  race  of  people.     They 
consider  themselves  as  the  aborigines  of  the  country,  and  are  said 
to  be  a  much  better-natured  race  than  the  pure  Hungarian. 

"  A  few  miles  from  Bartpha  is  a  large  village  with  two 
Cluu'ches,  a  convent,  and  a  fine  house,  the  property  of  Count 
Asperman.  Above,  on  a  steep  and  high  hill  covered  with  wood, 
is  a  fine  old  castle,  now  in  ruins,  built  by  Ragozzi,  a  Transylvanian 
chief,  and  one  of  the  followers  of  Bethlem  Gabor,  who,  in  con- 
junction with  the  Turks,  overran  all  this  part  of  Hungary,  building 
many  castles  to  secure  his  possessions.  He  was  also  leagued  with 
various  bands  of  Bohemian  Hussites,  who  greatly  infested  these 
mountains  by  robberies  and  rebellions. 

"  The  mineral  waters  of  Bartpha  have  induced  Count  Asper- 
man to  build  a  village  on  the  spot,  and  fit  it  up  as  a  watering-place. 
The  lodgings  are  in  long  low  buildings,  and  look  like  streets  of 
cottages.  Every  chamber  has  a  bathing-room  on  the  opposite  side 
of  the  corridor  ;  and  behind  are  stoves  for  heating  the  water  :  * 
*  *  *  The  water  is  a  very  strong  chalybeate. 

The  physician,  on  whom,  however,  I  place  no  great  confidence, 
said  it  exactly  resembled  that  of  Spa.  These  lodgings  form  one  side 
of  a  large  irregular  area,  in  the  centre  of  which  is  the  well,  covered 
mth  a  small  leaden  pavilion.  The  other  side  of  the  area  is  occu- 
pied by  a  large  house,  where  are  a  table  d'hote,  rooms  for  balls, 
theatricals,  &c.  The  whole  is  under  the  direction  of  a  Lemberg 
inn-keeper,  named  Hocht.  A  new  theatre  is  soon  expected  to  be 
built,  and  the  place  seems  increasing  rapidly.  The  accommoda- 
tions are  now,  however,  miserable,  merely  consisting  of  bare  walls, 
boarded  bedsteads,  and  clean  straAv, 

"  I  walked  up  to  the  castle  ;  the  outer  wall  is  an  irregular 
pentagon,  having  the  entrance  in  a  large  hexagonal  tower  in  one 
of  the  angles  ;  on  two  sides  it  is  guarded  by  a  deep  ditch  ;  on  the 
three  other  the  declivity  is  a  sufficient  protection.  From  the  first 
ward  you  ascend  by  narrow  gateways  to  two  others,  and  at  last  to 


am  CASTLE  BUILT  BY  RAGOZZI. 

CHAP,    what  has  been  the  donjon.     Round  the  outer  wall,  and  at  its  very 

18""-     foot,  a  deep  subterranean  gallery  has  extended.     It  is  very  dark 

and  horrible,  and  put  me  a  little  in  mind  of  the  description  of 

Bethlem   Gabor's  castle    in  Godwin's    '  St.   Leon.'       The    great 

donjon  is  rent  in  two,   and  from  about  half  its  height  you  look 

down  into  the  different  stories  of  rooms    and  dungeons,  with   a 

stupendous  well  at  bottom.     The  materials  have  been  bad  stone 

mixed  with  bricks,  and  the  whole  covered  with  plaister,  which  is 

still  tolerably  entire.     On  the  plaister  of  what  has  been  the  chief 

room,  is  engraved  some  gibberish. 

*  *  *  * 


* 


On  the  gateway  are  small  compartments  in  the  plaister,  which 
seem  to  have  been  intended  for  arms  or  inscriptions,  but  they  now 
offer  nothing.  The  effect  of  the  different  openings  into  these 
dungeons,  with  the  young  trees  bursting  through  their  ruins,  was 
strikingly  fine.  The  area  of  the  two  lower  courts  was  cultivated, 
and  bore  a  good  crop  of  rye  ;  the  whole  space  may  be  about  three 
acres.  The  castle  is  perfectly  commanded  by  the  highest  peak  of 
the  hills  which  rises  at  about  half  a  mile  distant,  covered  with  firs. 
In  my  way  back  to  Bartpha,  I  saw  a  wolf 

"  We  went  into  the  bath,  which  covered  our  bodies  with  rust, 
and  had  a  very  bad  effect  on  Thornton's  leg. 

"  June  22d,  Sunday.— T\\e  strangers  at  the  well  were  this  day 
in  their  best  clothes.  Most  of  the  patients  bathe  twice  daily,  we, 
however,  declined  it  this  morning.  The  Churches  in  Hungary 
are  built  generally  in  the  form  of  three  or,  sometimes,  four  small 
wooden  towers,  standing  against  each  other  like  pulpit,  reading- 
desk,  clerk,  and  dog-whipper,  the  highest  being  the  steeple,  and 
containing  the  principal  entrance.  We  dined  at  the  great  ordinary 
in  a  large  saloon,  the  roof  supported  by  pillars,  and  with  a  gallery 
round  it.  The  party  consisted  of  an  abbot,  a  Franciscan  monk,  a 
young  officer  of  cuirassiers,  and  several  from  different  classes  of  the 

12 


WELLS— JEWS.  287 


people  ;  but  our  whole  number  did  not  exceed  fifteen.  Some  spoke  ^^\^ 
French  and  others  Latin.  In  the  evening  there  was  a  ball,  and  a  isoo. 
comedy.  I  took  a  walk  in  the  tall  fir  wood  which  covers  the  hills 
round  the  village  of  Bartpha;  some  of  the  timber  is  vmcommonly 
fine.  The  roads  which  have  been  made  for  carrying  wood  to  con- 
struct the  village,  afford  some  beautiful  solitary  walks.  On  my 
return  I  was  struck  by  the  effect  produced  in  the  forest  by 
the  large  fire  of  some  woodmen,  who  were  eating  their  supper 
with  much  singing  and  merriment  round  it. 

"  June  23rd. — The  whole  number  of  residents  at  the  wells 
does  not  at  present  exceed  thirty  ;  when  the  season  is  further 
advanced  there  are  frequently  five  or  six  hundred  persons.  The 
old  prince  Czartorisky  is  a  regular  attendant,  and  has  a  small  house 
in  the  village.  His  first  visit  to  the  place  is  recorded  in  an  inscrip- 
tion on  the  pediment  of  the  little  dome  which  covers  the  well. 
Another  inscription  on  the  house,  at  the  southern  end  of  one  of 
the  ranges  of  bviildings,  thus  sets  forth  the  intention  of  the  whole 
estabhshment : 

"  Hasce  netles  condidit 

Senator  Bartplicnsis, 

Ut  nobiles  cives  atque  alii 

Ex  aquis  et  frondibus 

Sese  recreaturi, 

Salutem 

Ex  aquis  et  frondibus 

Bartphensibus 

Acciperent." 

There  are  in  the  original  some  half-dozen  letters  which  seem 
intended  for  a  chronogram,  but  I  was  not  at  the  pains  to  pick  them 
out  and  arrange  them. 

"  There  are  three  or  four  houses  in  the  village  belonging  to 
Jews ;  these  are  not  very  common  in  Hungary,  where  Jews  are 
only  barely  tolerated.  In  many  districts  they  are  forbidden  to 
approach  under  pain  of  death  ; — such  as  the  mining  countries  and 
some  others.     The  few  that  are  settled  in  Hungary  seldom  w^ear 


1801 


288  HUNGARIAN  PEASANTS. 

CHAP,  their  own  peculiar  habit.  At  the  ordinary  to-day  there  were  rather 
more  persons  than  yesterday.  Many  of  them  dined  with  their 
hats  on.  After  dinner  a  man  who  had  sat  opposite  to  me,  called 
me  aside  to  show  me  some  smuggled  tea  which  he  had  brought 
from  Russia,  and  which  he  sold  in  glass  quart  bottles  at  three 
ducats  each.  Coffee  and  sugar  are  extravagantly  dear,  as  well  as 
all  kinds  of  West  and  East  Indian  produce.  Neither  milk  or 
butter  are  to  be  procured  in  Bartpha  ;  the  latter  indeed  is  very 
scarce  all  over  Hungary,  and  hogs'  lard  is  used  instead.  The  un- 
married men  also  smear  their  hair  and  bodies  with  lard ;  but  as 
soon  as  they  marry  they  discontinue  this  filthy  fashion.  During 
dinner  I  had  a  good  deal  of  conversation  with  a  Pole,  an  acquaint- 
ance of  one  of  our  Lemberg  friends  ;   he  afterwards  called  on  us ; 

*  *    this  curious  sort  of  pushing  civility  is  thoroughly  Polish. 

Plenty  of  fine  strawberries  were  brought  by  children  for  sale,  and 
there  was  good  ice  for  desert. 

"  June  24th. — I  saw,  to-day,  some  female  peasants  remark- 
ably well  dressed,  like  English  country  girls,  walking  with  their 
shoes  and  stockings  in  their  hands.  I  dined  again  in  the  hall,  and 
had  some  conversation  with  the  cuirassier  officer,  who  was  lamed 
by  a  fall  from  his  horse,  and  was  now  trying  the  virtue  of  these 
baths  to  cure  it. 

"  It  is  not  always  easy  to  procure  horses  in  the  village ;  but 
having  previously  engaged  four  to  take  us  to  the  town  of  Bartpha, 
a  distance  of  about  three  English  miles,  we  left  the  wells  this 
evening.  The  town  is  small  and  ancient,  surrounded  by  walls  and 
towers,  which  are  still  tolerably  entire.  The  houses  are  all  built 
in  the  old  German  fashion,  with  religious  mottos  and  pictures  on 
the  walls.  There  are  one  Roman  Catholic  and  two  evangelical 
Churches ;  one  of  which  is  old  and  small ;  the  other  is  very 
handsome,  but  not  yet  completed.  The  Roman  Catholic  Church 
is  also  handsome,  and  built  in  tolerably  pure  Gothic,  On  one  of 
the  pillars  is  an  elephant's  tooth,  which  the  old  sacristan  pointed 
out  as  the  rib  of  a  giant.     I  could  not,  however,  learn  any  tradi- 


FUNERAL— APERIES. 


289 


IX. 
180G. 


tionary  history  of  this  supposed  son  of  Anak.  The  population  of  chap. 
the  town  is  chiefly  German  and  Lutheran.  I  here  first  heard  the 
name  of  '  EvangeHcal'  assvuned  by  Lutherans.  I  witnessed  one  of 
their  funerals,  which  was  attended  by  a  great  nmnber  of  persons, 
most  of  whom  were  dressed  in  short  jerkins  and  long  grey  cloaks.  At 
the  gate  of  the  chmch-yard,  a  person  stood  to  collect  the  benevo- 
lence of  those  who  attended  the  ceremony.  The  clergyman  was 
di-essed  in  a  plain  black  cloak  and  broad-brimmed  hat,  looking  not 
very  unlike  the  pictures  of  Hudibras.  The  funeral-service  merely 
consisted  of  a  prayer,  a  hymn,  and  a  short  extemporary  address. 
The  number  o^Evangelisher,  I  learnt  from  one  of  the  congregation,  is 
about  three  hvmch-ed  families,  living  in  the  town  and  neighbourhood, 
a  third  of  whom  are  Germans  and  the  rest  Slavonians.  Each  nation 
has  its  own  pastor  and  school,  and  the  pastors  preach  by  turns  in 
the  common  Church.  Protestants  are  very  numerous  in  all  Upper 
Hungary  and  Transylvania,  and  are  under  no  legal  disabihties 
whatever. 

"  A  sort  of  fan*  was  held  in  the  town,  in  which  some  Italian 
and  Jewish  tradesmen  had  set  up  their  booths.  The  former  we 
met  with  very  frequently  all  over  Hungary.  We  left  Bartpha  this 
evening,  \nth  peasants'  horses,  who  were  engaged  to  take  us  to 
Aperies ;  but  we  stopped  short  at  a  small  inn  kept  by  a  Ger- 
man, where  we  got  a  bed  for  Thornton,  but  nothing  to  eat  or 
drink  except  brown  bread  and  sour  wine.  The  mistress  of  the 
house  was  a  wrinkled  ^itch,  whose  face  would  formerly  have  sent 
her  flying  into  a  horse-pond. 

"  June  25th. — We  arrived  this  morning  at  Aperies,  a  mode- 
rate sized  and  neat  town,  walled  rovmd,  and  in  a  very  fine  situa- 
tion. It  consists  of  one  wide  street  with  the  Church  in  the  centre, 
and  handsome  houses  on  each  side  of  three  or  four  stories  high, 
which  struck  us  very  forcibly  after  those  we  had  been  accustomed 
to  see  in  Russia.  Many  of  the  rooms  have  coved  ceilings,  and  the 
windows  of  all  the  good  houses  are  secured  with  heavy  iron  bars. 
On  a  very  high  hill  near  the  town,  is  a  large  castle  built  by  Ragozzi. 
The  Church  is  in  a  good  style  of  Gothic  architecture,  but  has 

VOL.  I.  P  P 


290  CASCHAU. 

CHAP,    little  in  it  remarkable.     In  one  corner  is  a  small  stage  with  a  cur- 

IX 

1806.      tain  before  it,  and  a  Latin  inscription,  purporting  that  here  might 
'  be  seen  the  passion  and  resurrection  of  Christ.     On  removing  the 

curtain,  I  found,  in  fact,  a  collection  of  scenes,  &c.  as  if  for  a 
puppet-show.  In  the  centre  of  the  stage  was  a  small  white  figure 
of  a  woman  weeping,  which  seemed  exceedingly  well  done.  A 
wine-merchant  in  the  town  told  me  that  the  number  of  Hungarian 
troops  was  very  small,  owing  to  the  jealousy  of  the  Diet. 

"  On  quitting  Aperies,  we  dined  at  a  small  inn  at  the  first 
stage,  where  we  found  great  neatness,  and  an  excellent  dinner  pro- 
duced in  a  few  minutes,  things  to  which  we  had  been  long  unaccus- 
tomed. The  mistress  of  the  house  was  a  Slavonian,  and  not  one 
of  the  family  could  speak  a  word  of  German. 

"  We  reached  Caschavi  about  six  in  the  evening.  The  great 
inn  '  Schwartzen  Adler,'  was  too  fvill  to  admit  us,  the  comitatus 
being  assembled  in  the  town,  and  the  Archbishop  of  Eslau  was 
also  holding  his  visitation.  The  waiter,  a  fine  powdered  coxcomb, 
was  as  impertinent  as  any  of  his  fellows  in  the  most  refined  coun- 
tries. We  were,  at  length,  admitted  into  a  small  inn  without  the 
gates.  I  immediately  called  on  a  tradesman  to  whom  we  had  let- 
ters, in  the  hope  of  being  able,  with  his  assistance,  to  get  a  carriage 
on  four  springs,  for  which  Thornton  Avishedto  exchange  his  britchka. 
He  went  with  me  to  two  coachmakers.  The  price  of  a  Vienna 
waggon,  with  springs  only  behind,  was  from  three  hundred  to 
three  hundred  and  fifty  florins ;  for  one  with  four  springs  I  was 
asked  from  four  to  five  hundred.  I  saw  some  very  neat  ones  of 
both  kinds,  but  none  were  quite  finished.  The  coachmakers 
refused  to  give  any  thing  for  a  Russian  britchka,  except  as  far  as 
the  value  of  the  materials  went. 

"  Jime  2Gth. — -Caschau  is  a  small  but  neat  town,  chiefly  con- 
sistmg  of  a  square,  or  rather  a  very  wide  street,  in  the  centre  of 
which  are  the  town-hajl  and  the  Cathedral ;  some  of  the  principal 
Churches  also  form  the  sides.  A  clear  stream  of  water  runs  down 
the  middle.  Tlie  Churches  are  handsome ;  the  Cathedral,  or 
rather  the  conventual  Church,  is  large,  and  in  a  good  style  of  Gothic 


VOLUNTEER  CORPS— SCHOOL.  291 

architecture.  On  a  gallery  in  the  south  transept  is  a  Latin  inscrip-  chap. 
tion,  commemorating  the  birth  and  coronation  of  Ladislaus  Post-  isos. 
humus,  son  of  Albert  of  Austria  and  Elizabeth.  This  publication 
of  his  birth  and  right  to  the  throne  was  dictated  by  his  mother's 
fears  of  \  lachslaus,  king  of  Poland,  who  did  actually  seize  on  the 
throne.  Whether  such  usurpations  were  common  in  Hungary  we 
could  not  learn.  It  is  singular  that,  in  the  general  hurry,  she 
should  have  found  time  to  procure  this  publication  of  her  son's 
rights ;  and  still  more  that  Vladislaus  did  not  destroy  it.  The 
bishop's  throne  is  on  the  right-hand  side  of  the  Altar.  The 
Church  had  been  repau'ed  by  the  benefaction  of  one  of  its  rectors, 
and  was  very  neat.  I  entered  it  just  at  the  time  when  mass  was 
saying ;  the  archbishop  and  his  clergy  were  present,  together  with 
many  of  the  comitatiis,  ^nth  their  whiskers  and  short  jackets.  Our 
host  of  the  '  GrUnen  Baueii  was  a  lieutenant  in  the  city  volunteer 
cavalry,  and  wore  always  his  laced  pantaloons  and  whiskers  with 
great  ostentation.  Their  number  amounts  to  ninety-six ;  there  is 
also  a  corps  of  volunteer  infantry,  consisting  of  a  hundred  and  forty- 
six.  I  saw  the  funeral  of  one  of  their  members,  who  was  buried 
by  the  abbot,  and  attended  with  military  honours  to  the  grave. 
The  men  and  officers  were  of  a  very  decent,  burgher-like,  and 
most  unmihtary  appearance  :  their  uniform  is  pepper-and-salt,  with 
green  facings ;  and  they  wear  ridiculously  large  cocked  hats  and 
green  feathers, — the  only  absurd  part  of  theu*  dress. 

"  The  surgeon  Avho  attended  Thornton  here  was  a  decent 
well-informed  man.  I  had  a  good  deal  of  conversation  with  the 
apothecary,  a  fine  prosing  fellow,  who  complained  much  of  the 
dearness  of  drugs,  and  said  that  England  ought  to  sell  them 
cheaper.  On  my  desiring  to  know  what  drugs  they  got  from 
England,  he  answered,  that  they  received  every  kind  of  luxury 
and  physic  fi*om  her  and  her  colonies. 

"  Om*  landlord  told  us  that  the  price  of  a  good  horse  was 
from  five  to  six  hundred  guilders.  There  are  several  Furmiinner 
in  Caschau  who  offered  to  take  us  to  Vienna,  finding  both  carriage 
and  horses,  for  rather  less  than  the  usual  post.     Caschau  has  a 

p  p  2 


292  DRESS  OF  HUNGARIAN  PEASANTS. 


CHAP,    great  school  or  university  with  many  professors.  *  * 

I  sou.      *****  There  is  plenty  of  wine 

made  in  the  neighbovuhood  of  the  city,  but  none  very  good ;  many 
of  the  houses  are  well  built,  and  the  whole  place  bears  the  appear- 
ance of  wealth. 

"  June  27th. — Left  Caschau.  The  peasants  here  become 
downright  Hungarian;  the  men  have  their  heads  dripping  with 
grease,  and  wear  a  profusion  of  buttons  on  all  sides  of  their  jackets ; 
the  women  are  in  red  boots,  quilted  petticoats,  and  short  jackets, 
with  their  hair  hanging  in  a  long  plait  down  their  backs.  Many 
of  them  are  very  handsome. 

"  At  the  first  stage  from  Caschau,  where  we  were  stopped 
about  an  hour  for  post  horses,  the  mistress  of  the  house  gave 
us  bread  and  cheese,  and  wine ;  and  for  our  amusement  brought  us 
a  vast  collection  of  theses,  held  by  her  son  at  the  university  of 
Caschau,  together  with  the  synopses  of  several  courses  of  lectures 
on  the  laws  and  history  of  Hungary.  These  last  were  very  inte- 
resting ;  but  the  theses  were  written  in  so  bad  a  hand  that  we 
could  make  out  but  httle  of  them;  they  were  on  civil  government, 
and  seemed  to  be  chiefly  taken  from  Aristotle's  Politics.  The 
village  was  pleasantly  situated  by  a  small  stream,  in  which  two 
peasants  were  soaking  wheat,  in  all  probability  for  sowing ;  their 
mistress  was  standing  near  them,  a  plain-looking  farmer's  wife. 
There  was  one  better  sort  of  house  in  the  village,  to  which  a 
britchka  and  four  drove  up  while  we  were  there.  A  little  way  fur- 
ther, over  a  bridge,  and  shaded  by  some  trees,  was  a  statue  of  St. 
John  Nepomacene.  Tliis  saint,  who  was  thrown  over  the  bridge  at 
Prague,  has  been  ever  since  supposed  to  watch  over  bridges,  and 
is  always  placed  near  one.  Two  stages  further  we  found  a  very 
intelligent  post-master,  who  took  in  the  Vienna  and  Presburg 
newspapers.  He  dissuaded  us  from  going  to  Tokay,  whence  we 
were  not  above  twelve  Enghsh  miles  distant.  The  town,  he  said, 
was  not  worth  seeing,  and  by  keeping  along  the  great  road  we 
passed  through  some  of  the  best  vineyards  in  the  country.  He 
brought  us  some  wine  and  refused  all  payment  for  his  civilities. 


TENURE  OF  LAND.  293 

I  observed  that  the  letters  lying  on  his  table  were  all  directed  in    ^hap. 
Latin.  i«oe. 


"  Vines  were  first  planted  in  Hungary  by  the  emperor  Probus, 
from  Greek  slips  ;  the  wines  made  in  the  north  are  white  ;  those 
south  of  Eslau  are  chiefly  red,  pretty  much  like  a  light  port.  Of 
the  white  wines  that  of  Tokay  is  the  most  famous.  It  is  made 
from  such  grapes  only  as  drop  from  the  tree  spontaneously  through 
over  ripeness,  and  is  very  dear.  At  Pest  we  paid  five  guilders 
for  a  very  small  bottle,  and  were  at  first  asked  eight  for  it ;  in 
Austria  the  price  is  much  greater.  The  colour  of  the  red  wine  is 
derived,  not  from  the  juice,  but  from  the  skin  of  the  grape.  Presses 
are  invariably  used  to  press  out  the  juice,  and  not  human  feet  as  is 
generally  supposed. 

"  The  Hungarian  peasants  in  this  part  of  the  country  appear 
in  easy  circumstances,  and  their  houses  are  neat ;  their  principal 
food  consists  of  bacon  and  hog's  lard,  of  which  they  are  very 
greedy,  and  eat  it  raw.  Their  wine  seems  to  make  them  a 
cheerful  race.  They  are  a  musical  people  ;  at  Caschau,  in  the 
little  inn  where  we  were  lodging,  there  was  a  nightly  concert  of 
peasants,  where  some  pieces  were  performed  of  really  difficult 
execution. 

"  The  lands  of  Hungary  are  divided  into  manors,  each  manor 
containing  demesne,  or  private  property  of  the  lord,  freeholds,  and 
copyholds.  The  fhst  is  let  to  tenants,  who  are  on  the  same 
footing  -vnth  tenants  in  England ;  the  freeholders  only  owe  suit 
and  service  to  their  lord,  who  also  inherits  in  default  of  male  heirs. 
The  copy-holders  are  obliged  to  work  for  their  lord  gratis,  either 
fifty-two  days  with  four  horses,  or  a  hundred  and  four  without ; 
there  are  also  other  dues  settled  by  custom.  Sometimes  there  is 
a  sort  of  modus  or  quit-rent  of  very  old  standing,  in  lieu  of  the 
manual  labour  ;  and  sometimes  similar  new  agreements  are  formed. 
These  copyholders  are  attached  to  their  copyholds,  which  they 
cannot  leave  without  the  lord's  permission ;  they  are  called 
'  served  '  colonic  &c.  There  is,  however,  another  class  of  copy- 
holders, who  may  leave  their  copyholds,  or  dispose  of  them  as 


294  SZERENZ— CALVINIST  CHURCH. 

CHAP,  they  please,  if  not  in  debt  to  their  lord.  The  peasants  are  also 
'««"■  liable  to  the  burthen  of  '  furspann,'  and  of  being  taken  for  soldiers. 
If,  however,  a  peasant's  son  studies  in  the  university,  or  becomes 
a  member  of  a  corporate  town,  he  can  no  longer  be  reclaimed. 
This  we  learnt  from  the  post-master,  from  the  professors  at  Erlau, 
from  Count  Kettrai,  at  Buda,  and  from  many  other  authorities.  The 
lord  has  no  authority  over  the  peasants'  copyhold  further  than  is 
here  stated,  except  the  privileges  of  the  game  laws,  which  nearly  re- 
semble our  own.  At  Szerenz,  a  village  which  was  our  next  stage, 
we  met  an  officer  who  was,  we  were  told,  a  noted  gamester,  and  was 
now  going  to  his  annual  harvest  at  Baitpha.  His  carriage  was  very 
neat,  well  loaded  with  guns  and  other  instruments  of  amusement. 

"  While  we  waited  for  oiu*  horses  we  went  into  the  Calvinist 
Church,  where  a  clergyman  was  doing  duty.  The  inhabitants  of  the 
village  were  generally  Roman  Catholic,  but  this  place  of  worship  was 
very  ancient,  and  larger  than  most  parish  Churches  in  England.  We 
had  some  conversation  after  service  with  the  clergyman ;  he  was  a 
plain  respectable  man,  of  about  sixty,  with  a  wife  and  one  daughter, 
who  spoke  German  ;  he  himself  preferred  speaking  in  Latin.  His 
congregation  only  amounted  to  about  five  hundred ;  but  the  number 
of  Protestants  in  the  neighbourhood  was  much  larger  than  that  of 
the  Roman  Catholics.  They,  as  well  as  their  clergy,  are  mostly  poor; 
they  take  great  pains  in  the  education  of  their  children,  though 
without  the  same  public  assistance  which  the  Roman  Catholics 
receive.  The  greatest  number  of  Protestants  are  to  be  found  in 
Upper  Hungary,  and,  above  all,  in  Transylvania,  where,  if  you  want 
to  travel  quick,  you  have  only  to  tell  the  post-master  that  you  are 
a  Protestant.  Their  toleration  is  very  great,  but  a  strange  rule  has 
been  made  within  a  few  weeks,  which  subjects  the  Protestant 
schools  and  preachers  to  the  inspection  of  the  neighbouring  Catholic 
clergy.  This  cannot  but  do  mischief  The  reason  assigned  is, 
that  they  hold  uncharitable  doctrines,  which  their  'pacta  conventd 
of  toleration  do  not  admit  of. 

"  At  the  village  of  Szerenz  we  met  with  a  peasant  who  spoke 
Latin  fluently,  and  who  even  corrected  one  of  our  phrases.     Mis- 


MISKOLTZ.  295 


koltz,  wliere  we  had  hoped  to  sleep,  was  full  of  the  people  attending    <^'h^p- 


IX. 


the  county  meeting.  We  went  from  inn  to  inn,  every  person,  with  '"Q"- 
exceeding  civility,  showing  us  backwards  and  forwards,  but  we 
could  get  no  lodgings.  There  were  no  less  than  three  decent  inns 
in  the  town,  a  large  school,  and  four  or  five  Churches.  At  last  the 
post-master  took  us  in,  and  veiy  hospitably  gave  us  beds  and  a 
supper.  We  had  a  long  conversation  in  Latin  with  the  old  man 
and  his  brothers,  who  had  studied  at  Erlau  ;  both  were  very  pro- 
fuse in  their  civilities,  calling  us  '  magnificentia  et  excellentia,'  and 
both  very  violent  in  theh  politics,  particularly  against  Austria. 
While  we  were  with  them  we  had  an  opportunity  of  observing  how 
much  Latin  is  used  in  Hungary.  A  servant  of  the  archbishop  of 
Erlau's  came  in,  and  addressing  himself  to  the  postmaster,  ordered, 
in  very  fluent  Latin,  horses  for  his  master  the  next  morning.  Our 
host's  principal  cause  of  complaint  against  government  was,  that 
'  Rex  Himgarice  Germaniam  habitat ;  they  also  said  that  Ger- 
mans were  preferred  in  every  department  of  the  state,  even  in 
Hungarian  regiments.  With  such  things  as  these,  said  he,  '  cle- 
gustata  est  Jiatio.'  They  expressed  strong  apprehensions  of  national 
bankruptcy,  formed  chiefly  on  what  they  had  learned  from  a  tra- 
velling Jew.  Of  Buonaparte  and  the  French  they  spoke  with  great 
fierceness ;  but  likewise  said  that  Hungary  would  not  act  heartily 
against  France, '  quia  degiistata  adeo,  et  2:)ertcBsa  est  natio! 

"  The  addition  of  two  strangers  to  their  household  caused  a 
good  deal  of  inconvenience  to  our  kind  host ;  but  we  could  not 
help  being  amused  at  the  condensibility  of  which  a  large  family  is 
capable  in  a  small  house  ;  one  little  boy  was  put  to  bed  in  a  drawer. 
The  mistress  knew  only  Magyar,  but  their  maid-servant,  a  pert  lass 
in  red  boots,  spoke  German. 

"  June  28th. — Our  first  resting-place  this  morning  was  re- 
markable chiefly  for  its  excellent  gardens.  We  found  there  a 
great  many  priests  returning  from  the  visitation,  who  all  recom- 
mended us  to  go  to  Erlau.  The  archbishop  had  bespoke  sixteen 
horses  all  along  the  road. 

"  At  our  next  stage  we  looked  into  a  cabaret  full  of  peasants, 


.296  ERLAU. 

CHAP,  who  were  drinking  some  excellent  red  wine.  A  school-bell  rang, 
I80C.  and  a  multitude  of  ragged  children  collected  in  the  streets;  the 
schoolmaster  was  not  yet  come,  but  I  met  an  intelligent  country- 
man who  spoke  Latin,  though  imperfectly.  He  said  that  the  vil- 
lage was  named  Kerestes,  and  that  it  belonged  to  the  crown,  or,  as 
the  Hungarians  express  it,  the  '  camera^  (privy  council.)  The 
school  was  paid  and  supported  by  the  crown.  It  contained  three 
classes ;  one  for  Hungarian  reading  and  writing ;  the  second  for 
the  German  language  alone ;  and  the  third  for  German  and  Latin 
together.  The  German  class  rarely  exists,  except  in  crown  vil- 
lages. Almost  every  peasant  attends  the  reading  and  writing-class, 
to  which  they  are  admitted  gratis.  The  number  of  chikhen  in 
this  village-school  was  about  sixty,  fifteen  of  whom  were  in  the 
Latin  class.  In  the  estates  of  individuals,  the  schools  are  supported 
by  parish-rates. 

"  We  had  peasants'  horses  from  Kerestes  to  Erlau.  Our  driver 
was  one  of  the  dirtiest,  wildest,  and  least  civilized  beings  I  ever 
saw  ;  his  hair  was  very  long,  absolutely  summing  in  hog's  lard,  and 
tied  in  many  small  tails  with  shreds  of  cloth.  His  waistcoat  had  at 
least  a  hundred  buttons,  of  different  sizes  and  colours,  sewed  on  in 
various  parts  behind  and  before  ;  and  a  leathern  belt  round  his  waist 
was  similarly  ornamented.  The  horses  were  small  and  bad,  and 
as  the  harness  merely  consisted  of  a  few  ropes,  Mithout  any  means 
of  holding  them  up,  one  of  them  fell  going  down  a  very  steep 
hill  at  the  entrance  of  Erlau.  Victor  said  the  poor  beast  was 
'  paresseiix.' 

Erlau  stands  in  a  singular  situation,  among  rocks  and  vine- 
yards. The  rocks  are  all  hollowed  into  cellars,  and  the  hill  looks 
like  a  town  of  Troglodites,  or  the  city  of  the  Gltimms,  in  '  Peter 
Wilkins.'  The  town  itself  is  large  and  irregular,  filled  with  ruins 
and  gardens.  Some  tall  trees  in  the  Archbishop's  garden  give  the 
town  a  beautiful  appearance,  not  very  unlike  Batchiserai.  The 
castle  stands  on  some  high  rocks,  but  is  decidedly  commanded  by 
the  surrounding  mountains.  From  the  lower  town  a  steep  winding 
ascent  runs  tlirough  the  citadel  gateway  :  we  here  were  obliged  to 


ERLAU— ACADEMY.  297 

ask  our  way  of  a  man  who  kept  a  small  shop  close  to  the  gateway ;  ^hap. 
we  found  he  was  a  foreigner,  and,  of  course,  an  Italian.  The  '^"<^- 
principal  inn,  '  the  Lion,'  is  a  very  good  one.  In  it  is  a  ball-room, 
with  an  inscription  in  Latin,  Hungarian,  and  German,  forbidding  the 
use  of  tobacco.  There  are  about  a  dozen  Churches,  of  which  the 
principal  are  the  Cathedral,  the  Church  of  the  Franciscans,  and 
that  of  St.  Anthony  ;  the  last  has  a  cupola  ornamented  with  paint- 
ings representing  the  miracles  of  this  saint,  among  which  the  fishes 
are  not  forgotten. 

"  I  went  to  give  an  introductory  letter  to  M.  Najniajor,  a 
tradesman  in  the  town,  whom  I  found,  to  my  great  surprise,  a  very 
sensible,  well-educated  young  man,  speaking  French  and  Italian, 
and  having  a  good  collection  of  Latin  and  German  books  ;  he  was 
quite  the  Catcott,  the  literary  pewterer  of  Erlau.  In  the  evening 
we  went  with  him  to  see  the  Academy.  It  does  not  take  the  title 
of  university,  because  there  is  no  Professor  of  Medicine.  It  is  a 
noble  building,  of  three  very  lofty  stories,  round  a  quadrangle 
about  as  large  as  Peckwater  ;  this  contains  a  neat  Chapel,  different 
halls  for  the  respective  classes,  and  a  very  large  library,  the  ceiling 
of  which  is  tolerably  painted  with  the  history  of  the  Council  of 
Trent.  The  rest  of  the  building  is  occupied  by  the  professors' 
rooms  and  a  large  observatory.  It  was  all  erected  by  a  single  bene- 
factor, one  of  their  archbishops,  the  Count  Esterhazy,  uncle  to  the 
present  prince.  He  also  left  a  large  sum  to  rebuild  the  Cathedral 
after  the  model  of  St.  Peter's,  though  on  a  smaller  scale.  This 
part  of  his  will  was,  however,  contested.  The  number  of  young 
men  and  boys  educated  in  the  academy  is  about  four  hundred  ;  they 
all  lodge  in  the  town ;  yet  the  professors  assured  me  that  there 
were,  in  different  parts  of  Hungary,  colleges  on  our  plan,  which 
they  called  '  convictusJ  Besides  the  academy,  there  are  many 
smaller  schools  in  Erlau.  The  income  of  a  professor  is  only  five 
hundred  florins  yearly.  They  have  a  small,  though,  for  so  remote 
a  situation,  a  creditable  collection  of  astronomical  instruments,  all  of 
Enghsh  manufacture.  The  professors  were  exceedingly  civil  men, 
and  apparently  well-informed ;  they  were  very  curious  about  every 

VOL.  I.  Q  q 


298  FORTIFICATIONS. 

CHAP,  thing  relating  to  England.  I  had  some  conversation  with  one  of 
isofi-  them  about  Daniel's  seventy  weeks,  and  the  Arundelian  marbles. 
Here  again  we  heard  complaints  of  their  being  neglected  by  the 
court ;  and  that  their  king  lived  in  a  foreign  country.  Before  we 
quitted  the  academy,  one  of  the  professors  made  us  drink  a  large 
glass  of  mineral  water,  from  a  spa  in  the  neighbourhood,  which  is 
very  famous  all  over  Hungary  ;  it  exactly  resembled  the  Harrogate 
water,  and  almost  made  us  sick. 

"  The  29th  June  being  Sunday,  I  went  to  the  Cathedral,  look- 
ing into  the  Franciscan  Church  by  the  way,  where  a  monk  was 
preaching  with  great  emphasis  in  Magyar.  The  congregation  was 
numerous  and  attentive.  At  the  Cathedral  the  canons  and  all  the 
other  members  were  dressed  in  their  gaudy  effeminate  robes. 
After  Church  I  went  to  the  archbishop's  garden,  which  was  chiefly 
composed  of  a  collection  of  formal  avenues  ;  a  natural  warm  spring 
rises  very  near  it,  impregnated,  but  not  strongly,  with  sulphur.  I 
then  ascended  the  castle-hill,  where  is  a  vast  heap  of  Turkish  and 
Christian  ruins.  The  Turks  were  in  possession  of  Erlau,  or  Agria, 
for  108  years ;  it  was  taken  during  the  reign  of  Soliman  the  Mag- 
nificent, after  a  most  gallant  defence,  and  retaken  by  Ferdinand  a 
short  time  before  he  captured  Buda.  The  character  of  Soliman 
appears,  according  to  Istuanfi,  to  have  been  greatly  misunderstood 
by  the  Hungarians,  who  considered  him  an  effeminate  philosophical 
prince,  till  fatal  experience  convinced  them  of  the  contrary.  There 
are  some  vestiges  of  Turkish  ornaments  remaining  in  the  citadel, 
but  very  fevy.  In  the  town  is  the  minaret  of  a  Mahomedan  mosque ; 
it  is  very  simple,  and  now  serves  as  a  steeple  to  a  small  Chapel. 
The  situation  of  the  fortress  is  bad,  being  every  way  commanded 
by  hills ;  its  fortifications  have  been  immense,  with  two,  and  some- 
times three,  tiers  of  heavy  cannon,  one  above  the  other,  in  vaulted 
galleries.  These  galleries  still  exist,  forming  vast  caverns  and 
romantic  labyrinths  round  the  hill;  in  some  the  vaulting  was 
partially  destroyed ;  and  I  could  look  down  from  the  top  into  all 
the  three  stories.  Most  of  them  were,  however,  dark ;  and  I 
rambled  about  for  some  time,  without  finding  any  inscriptions  or 


ARCHBISHOP  OF  AGRIA— M.  NAJMAJOR.  299 

particular  ornaments.     Birds  and  bats  occupied  them,  and  flitted    chap. 
about  on  being  disturbed.  '«o6. 

"The  archbishop  of  Agria  has  very  great  privileges ;  for- 
merly he  had  a  full  jurisdiction,  with  the  power  of  hfe  and  death ; 
but  at  present,  in  capital  cases,  or  in  any  cause  of  more  than  a  certain 
value  (which  we  could  not  ascertain)  he  is  obliged  to  report  to  the 
king.  His  revenues  arise  from  the  vineyards,  and  from  several 
demesne  lands ;  he  is  entitled  to  a  fifth  of  all  the  wine  made  in 
his  diocese,  which  must  bring  him  in  an  immense  income.  The 
present  archbishop  does  not  seem  popular.  Comit  Esterhazy 
appears  to  have  been  very  much  beloved ;  his  magnificence  was 
particularly  commented  upon.  M.  Najmajor,  our  friend,  though 
a  brazier,  was  a  nobleman,  and  showed  us  his  letters  of  gentihty. 
His  grandfather  had  received  them  from  Maria  Theresa  for  his 
zeal  in  furnishing  horses  for  her  wars.  This  sort  of  nobles  are 
called  *  ai'moles,'  because  they  receive  a  written  permission  to 
have  armorial  bearings,  as  in  England ;  the  other  nobles  are  either 
such  as  have  been  svimmoned  to  a  diet,  or  who  possess  certain 
lands  in  fee  from  the  crowTi ;  these  are  called  '  donatarii.'  They 
rank  as  nobles  in  virtue  of  such  manors,  though  their  rank  be  not 
expressed  in  the  grant.  This  answers  nearly  to  the  Polish 
starosta ;  excepting  that  the  starosta  was  necessarily  for  military 
service. 

"  Ju7ie  SOth. — We  had  some  trouble  this  morning  with  the 
postman  about  horses ;  the  usual  recourse  in  this  case  is  to  apply 
to  the  '  vice -comes' .  Rather,  however,  than  take  this  trouble  we 
hired  peasants'  horses  to  draw  us  to  Capellua,  where  we  rejoined 
the  great  road.  A  continued  range  of  mountains  was  on  our  right- 
hand,  and  large  plains  on  our  left.  We  stopped  at  a  small  cabaret, 
where  several  peasants  were  washing  down  raw  hog's  lard  with 
sour  wine.  Gyongyas,  where  we  slept,  is  a  neat  town,  where, 
as  we  were  told  by  a  peasant,  '  plurimce  habitant  dominationes.' 
It  has  two  convents  and  a  Parish  Church,  and  a  small  but  comfort- 
able inn. 

"  Jidy  1st. — At  Halwar,  the  first  stage  from  Gyongyas,  we 

Q  q  2 


300  BUDA, 

CHAP,     niet  a  young  German  who  had  been  engaged  in  the  cloth  manu- 

i8»6. factory  in  Transylvania,  and  was  now  returning  barefoot  to  his  own 

country,  Saxony.  He  told  us  that  German  was  the  language  most 
commonly  spoken  in  Transylvania;  and  this  was  confirmed,  and 
accounted  for  to  us  afterwards  by  the  multitude  of  Saxon  colonists 
who  had  been  at  different  times  established  there. 

"  The  hills  on  which  Buda  stands  are  very  striking  on  first 
approaching  them.  Pest  stands  low,  and,  as  well  as  the  Danube,  is 
not  seen  till  you  are  close  upon  it.  On  the  staircase  of  the  '  Black 
Eagle,'  where  we  stopped  in  the  latter  town,  was  a  warning,  in 
German  and  Hebrew,  to  all  Jews  that  the  entry  was  forbidden  to 
them.  This  race  are  much  hated  in  Hungary ;  they  are  not  per- 
mitted the  public  exercise  of  their  religion  ;  *  * 


"  July  2d. — We  went  up  to  Buda  this  morning  with  our 
letters  of  introduction.  The  Danube  is  about  as  wide  as  the 
Thames  at  Battersea,  and  wonderfully  rapid ;  it  is  crossed  by  a 
bridge  of  boats  which  forms  a  curve  against  the  violence  of  the 
stream.  Pest  is  handsomely  built,  but  contains  nothing  striking 
except  the  county  hall  and  prisons,  which  are  very  fine.  Buda  is 
a  most  remarkable  city,  perched  on  a  high  rock  rising  abruptly 
from  the  Danube.  On  the  highest  point  of  the  rock  is  a  magni- 
ficent palace,  which  is  appropriated  to  the  Palatine  ;  it  is  large, 
and,  from  its  situation  and  style  of  architectvu-e,  much  resembles 
the  temple  of  Jerusalem,  according  to  the  fanciful  system  of  Villa- 
pardus.  Indeed  the  whole  town,  in  some  points  of  view,  gave  me 
an  idea  of  the  rocky  situation  of  Jerusalem.  The  Danube,  how- 
ever, is  what  that  city  has  not  to  boast  of  Under  a  rock  to  the 
left  of  that  on  which  Buda  is  built,  and  still  higher,  are  the  hot 
baths,  with  many  small  houses  for  the  convenience  of  the  sick. 

"  We  ascended  by  a  very  steep  and  winding  street  to  the 
gate  of  the  town.  The  ancient  ramparts  have  been  long  since 
suffered  to  decay,  but  still  encircle  the  city  ^vith  their  ruins.  The 
city  is  very  handsome,  but  I   was  disappointed  in  seeing  so  few 


BUDA.  301 

vestiges  of  antiquity,  except  the  Church,  built  by  Matthias  Cor-  chap. 
viaro,  and  a  few  stones  on  which  his  crest  was  engraved,  and  i^o'' 
which  had  formed  a  part  of  his  palace ;  this  was  destroyed  by  the 
Turks,  as  well  as  almost  every  thing  else  except  the  Church.  The 
Christians,  when  they  recovered  the  place,  retorted  this  treatment 
on  the  Infidels  ;  and  there  does  not  remain  a  single  Mohamedan 
vestige  in  the  town  that  I  could  hear  of 

"  The  hills  round  Buda  produce  a  very  excellent  red  \\dne, 
which  is  popular  all  through  Austria.  The  principal  nobleman 
to  whom  we  had  letters  was  out  of  town.  We  saw,  however. 
Count  Battriam,  and  spent  the  evening  with  Count  Nittrai  and 
Field-marshal  Ott,  who  commanded  at  Genoa,  and  duruig  the 
Austrian  incursion  into  Provence.  He  desu-ed  to  be  remembered 
to  Admiral  Keith,  if  we  ever  met  with  him.  From  Count  Nittrai 
we  derived  almost  all  our  little  knowledge  of  the  Hungarian  man- 
ners and  constitution ;  his  civihty,  and  even  kindness  to  us,  were 
extraordinary.  He  spoke  of  the  Hungarians  as  a  loyal  people,  but  I 
think  he  spoke  en  ministre  ;  his  attemjjt  to  gloss  over  then*  separate 
treaty,  as  if  it  was  merely  an  agreement  to  supply  Vienna  with 
corn,  was  not  very  successful.  We  were  desirous  of  seeing  the 
crown  of  Hungary ;  but  it  is  kept  under  so  many  locks  and  keys, 
that  it  was  unposible  to  obtain  a  sight  of  it.  Count  Nittrai  gave 
us  a  coloured  drawing  of  it,  which,  he  said,  was  perfectly  accurate. 
Joseph  the  Second  removed  this  crown  from  Presburg  to  Vienna ; 
but  on  the  reiterated  complaints  of  the  Diet,  he  replaced  it.  Francis 
the  Second  was  the  first  who  restored  the  seat  of  government,  the 
public  affairs,  crown,  and  Diet  to  Buda,  which  had  ceased  to  be  their 
rendezvous  since  the  Turkish  conquest. 

"  We  afterwards  went  with  Count  Nittrai  to  the  theatre, 
where  we  saw  Blue-beard  performed ;  it  was  divested  of  all  the 
miraculous  part,  and  rendered  very  absurdly  probable  ;  the  key, 
instead  of  being  stained  with  blood,  was  broken  in  the  lock,  and 
the  ghosts  were  all  omitted.  In  spite  of  the  prohibition  on  the 
stau's,  a  swarm  of  Jews  pestered  us  sadly ;  they  were  all  in 
'  Deiitchen  bleidung  ;'  I  believe  the  black  cassock  is  unknown  in 


302  STRIGONIUM— THE  DANUBE. 

CHAP.     Hvingary.     Very  good  hackney-coaches  are  always  to  be  had  in 
'»»«•      Buda. 

"  We  were  unfortunate  in  not  being  able  to  see  the  univer- 
sity, which  is,  externally,  a  large  and  lofty  stone  building.  It 
contains,  we  were  told,  a  good  library,  a  statue  of  Hercules, 
found  in  Temeswar,  and  about  three  thousand  students. 

"  Jultj  3d. — This  morning  on  our  departure,  we  had  a  consi- 
derable altercation  with  our  landlord,  who  brought  us  one  of  the 
most  extravagant  bills  I  ever  saw ;  but  which  we  at  last  succeeded 
in  prevailing  on  him  to  reduce.  The  chaussee  was  very  good,  and 
the  horses  excellent.  We  passed  Gran  (Strigonium)  on  our  left 
hand,  and  a  town  on  a  rock  by  the  Danube,  which  ran  on  our  right, 
with  a  castle  and  several  Churches.  Strigonium  was  the  residence 
of  Stephen,  the  first  Christian  king  of  Hungary,  and  its  archbishop 
is  still  primate  of  all  Hungary,  arch-chancellor,  and  has  the  pri- 
vileges of  placing  the  crown  on  the  king's  head,  administering  the 
oath,  &c.  The  form  of  the  coronation  still  retains  some  traces  of 
its  ancient  election  ;  the  archbishop  demands  of  the  nobles,  num 
volunt  jubentque  ut  coronettir. 

"  The  Danube  is  very  beautiful ;  and  the  stream  exceedingly 
swift.  Many  floating  mills  were  on  it.  On  the  hills  to  the  south 
are  several  old  castles,  and  beyond  these  hills  is  a  lake  as  large  as 
that  of  Geneva ;  the  banks,  however,  are  not  very  promising." 

To  Mrs.  Heber. 

Vienna,  July  6, 1806. 
"  My  Dear  Mother, 

"  Thank  you  for  your  letter;  you  can  scarcely  con- 
ceive how  great  a  delight  it  is  to  receive  news  from  home,  or  how 
earnestly  1  wish  to  be  there  again.  I  can  assure  you  that  Thorn- 
ton shares  in  this  feeling ;  and  that  it  is  the  desire  of  improvement, 
not  the  love  of  rambling,  which  has  kept  us  so  long  on  the  conti- 
nent. We  got  here  yesterday  evening,  and  of  course  are  little 
qualified  to  give  an  account  of  Vienna.  Our  journey  through  Hun- 
gary has  been  very  melancholy.     My  poor  friend  on  his  arrival  at 


GOVERNMENT  OF  HUNGARY.  303 


Odessa,  six  weeks  ago,  either  from  the  fatigues  we  had  undergone,     ch>p 

i8oe. 


and  the  bad   fare  we  had  met   with  since  we   quitted  Moscow, 
or,  as  we  were  incUned  to  beheve,  from  checked  perspiration,  was 
attacked  by  a  sweUing  and  inflammation  of  his  legs,  wliich  being 
mistaken  for  erysipelas  by  a  stupid  surgeon,  was  repelled  with  gou- 
lard.     During  our  journey  to  Lemberg  he  continued  lame,  and  his 
legs  were  occasionally  very  painful ;  but  while  we  were  there  they 
became  so  much  better,  that  he  was  able  to  walk  a  good  deal,  and 
nothing  of  the  malady  remained,  except  a  stiffness,  for  which  the 
warm  baths  in  Hungary  were  said  to  be  a  perfect  cure.     As  these 
lay  in  our  way,  we  tried  the  experiment,  which,  however,  though 
strongly  recommended  by  the  physician  of  the  place,  produced  a 
return  of  all  the  painful  symptoms ;  and,  from  the  metallic  nature  of 
the  waters,  inflamed  his  legs  so  much,  as  quite  to  discourage  him 
from  continuing  them,  and  to  make  him  perfectly  unable  to  walk,  or 
even  to  bear  the  jolting  of  the  carriage  without  much  suffering.   He, 
with  very  great  spirit  and  good  sense,  determined  not  to  trust  him- 
self again  to  provincial  surgeons,  but  to  press  on  immediately  for 
Vienna.     We  have  here  found  excellent  medical  assistance,  and 
the  complaint,  we  are  assured,  is  neither  dangerous,  nor  likely  to 
be  of  any  very    long   continuance,   though,  for  a    fortnight,  he 
must  give  himself  as  much  rest  as  possible.     Checked  perspiration 
is  decided  to  have  been  the  cause,  and  warm  clothing  is  one  of  the 
main  remedies  prescribed.     A  journey,  under  such  circumstances, 
would    afford  but    little  leisure    for   inquiry   and   improvement ; 
and  though  we  lost  no  opportunity,  we  have  to   regret  that  our 
tune  was  too  limited  to  enable  us  to  learn  much  about  the  country 
through  which  we  passed.     I  regret  it  the  more  as  there  are,  I 
think,  few  countries  where  an  Englishman  could  obtain  so  much 
important   information   as  in    Hungary,  the   constitution  of   the 
government    of  which  is    a   complete  comment    on   the   ancient 
principles  of  our  own,  as  low  down  as  Edward  the  Third.     All 
that  I  have  been  able  to  do  in  this  point,  except  a  little  conver- 
sation, is  to  get  the  names  of  the  best  historians,  and  of  law  books, 


304  INHABITANTS. 

CHAP,    which  I  shall  still  have  opportunities  of  consulting,  and  which  are 
isoG.      all  in  Latin. 


"  I  mentioned  in  my  letter  from  Lemberg,  that  this  language 
is,  from  various  reasons,  (particularly  that  every  parish  has  a  school) 
almost  vernacular  in  Hungary  ;  among  the  better  and  middling 
classes  it  is  the  most  usual  language ;  and  even  many  of  the  peasants 
speak  it  fluently.     In  this  point,  and  in  the  general  difflision  of 

knowledge,  Scotland  itself,  perhaps,  falls  short  of  Hungary.         * 

******* 

German  is  very  little  understood,  except  by  the  Austrian  inhabi- 
tants of  the  towns,  and  Hungary  is  as  little  known  or  traversed  by 
Germans  as  by  English.  It  was  perfectly  ridiculous  to  hear  the 
alarming  accounts  given  by  some  of  our  acquaintance  at  Lemberg,  of 
the  horror  and  miseries  of  the  route  we  were  going  to  take,  of  the 
want  of  roads,  horses  and  inns,  and  the  barbarism  of  the  people. 
The  roads,  indeed,  are  very  like  those  of  Shropshire  or  Cheshire  ; 
but  the  horses  and  inns  are  excellent;  and  the  whole  country 
displays  a  wealth  and  population  far  superior  to  all  which  we  have 
yet  seen  out  of  England.  The  market  towns  and  boi-oughs,  with 
their  town-halls,  whipping-posts,  and  gallows,  things  little  known 
on  the  continent,  are  exactly  in  the  style  of  building  which  we  see 
in  Hogarth's  prints.  Like  England,  Hungary  still  shows  every 
where  the  deep  scars  of  her  former  civil  disturbances.  Every 
county  town  has  its  ruined  walls ;  and  the  hills,  particularly  the 
Carpathian  mountains,  are  full  of  castles,  the  ruins  of  which  are 
sometimes  very  fine. 

"  The  inhabitants  of  Hungary  (to  say  nothing  of  the  German 
settlers,)  are  of  two  very  distinct  races.  The  mountainous 
parts  as  far  south  as  Caschau,  are  chiefly  peopled  by  Slavonians, 
the  original  inhabitants  of  the  country,  who,  like  the  Welch,  still 
preserve  their  race  and  language.  The  plains  are  inhabited  by 
the  pure  Hungarians,  the  real  descendants  of  Attila  and  his  fol- 
lowers. They  call  themselves  '  Magyar,'  and  their  country 
'  Magyar  Orzag.'    Their  language  is,  as  they  say,  sonorous,  and  has. 


BUDA.  305 

I  think,  the  longest  words  I  ever  heard,  so  like  Mexican  or  Sanscrit,  chap 
that  it  would  have  afforded  glorious  amusement  for  Bryant,  or  for  ^^- 
the  Abbe  Clavigero. 

"  They  themselves,  however,  seem  always  to  make  use  of 
Latin  hi  preference,  and  acknowledge  that  from  tliis  source  they 
have  softened  their  own  language.  I  have  heard  them  complain 
that  the  Germans  have  marred  tlie  names  of  their  cities  by  adapt- 
ing them  to  their  own  pronunciation,  or  translating  them.  Thus, 
Buda  is  in  German  called  Ofen  ;  Agria,  Erlau  ;  and  Pisonium, 
Presburg.  We  were  often  much  amused  with  our  Latin  dialogues, 
which  reminded  us  of  our  Corderius  at  school.  Nothing  can  be 
more  curious  than  the  ada})tation  of  modern  titles  to  Latin.  We 
were  generally  called  '  dominationes  vestrce,'  and  were  once  desired 
'  dignahuntur  sedere  magfiijicentice  vestrcs — '  will  your  magnifi- 
cences deign  to  sit  do^m.' 

"  Buda  is  a  fine  town,  and  in  a  noble  sitvxation  ;  we  had  some 
excellent  introductions,  and  much  regretted  that  Ave  were  only  able 
to  stay  in  it  two  days.  Here,  as  in  the  other  towns,  we  were  much 
struck  \d\\\  the  readiness  we  found  in  the  inhabitants  to  give  infor- 
mation to  strangers,  and  their  good  sense  in  perceiving  what  kind 
of  information  we  most  wished  for.  The  prevailing  religion  is,  you 
know,  Roman  Catholic,  but  Protestants  are  very  numerous,  and 
enjoy  perfect  equality  of  rights.  A  large  proportion  of  the  parishes 
have  Protestant  rectors,  I  believe  nearly  one-third.  The  older 
Chvu-ches  are  built,  mthout  the  smallest  difference,  in  the  same 
style  of  Gothic  which  is  supposed  to  be  peculiar  to  England;  an 
opinion  which  I  have  long  thought  to  be  erroneous. 

"  The  country  is  generally  very  fertile.  From  Caschau  to 
Buda,  through  the  Tokay  and  Erlau  country,  are  nothing  but  corn- 
fields and  vineyards,  except  one  or  two  considerable  tracts  of  pas- 
ture, which  are  covered  with  vast  herds  of  ugly  pigs.  These  crea- 
tures are  the  joy  and  pride  of  a  Hungarian  peasant ;  he  dresses  all 
his  victuals  with  hogs'  lard,  with  which  also  he  butters  his  bread ;  he 
rubs  his  hair  and  whole  body  with  the  same  precious  ointment,  and 
perhaps  writes  eclogues  on  his  bristly  and  grunting  favomites.  Tell 

VOL.  I.  R   r 


306  HUNGARIAN  PEASANTS. 

CHAP,  niy  brother  I  conceive  the  *  Pugna  Porcoruni  is  the  work  of  a 
"^""-  Hungarian  herdsman  ;  many  of  them  are  capable  of  such  a  produc- 
tion. The  Slavonians,  we  were  told,  and  our  observation  confirmed 
it,  are  like  all  their  race  in  Russia  or  elsewhere,  poor,  lively,  and 
good-natured.  The  Hungarians,  or  Magyar,  are  rough  and  churl- 
ish, particularly  to  a  German  ;  to  us  they  were  generally  civil.  The 
gentry  have  a  very  extensive  authority  over  their  peasants  ;  and  the 
system  of  free  warrens,  heriots,  quit-rents,  &c.  are  here  now  what 
they  once  were  in  England,  when  manorial  authority  was  at  its 
height.  The  effects  of  this  system  must,  I  should  think,  weigh 
heavily  on  the  lower  classes,  though  this  feudal  and  limited  autho- 
rity is  absolute  liberty  when  compared  with  the  West  Indian  des- 
potism of  a  Russian  master.  The  Slavonian  mountaineers  are,  how- 
ever, very  poor,  and  apparently  miserable.  The  Magyar  are  much 
better  off;  and  their  white  thatched  cottages  would  do  credit  to  an 
English  park.  Almost  all  the  Hungarian  peasants  are,  indeed, 
what  in  England  we  call  small  copyholders.  Their  farms  are  their 
own,  and  hereditary,  and  only  burthened  with  suit  and  service  (a 

tolerably  strict  service  indeed)  to  the  lord  of  the  manor.     *  * 

******** 

*  *  *  *  *  *  *     There  are 

also  many  freeholders,  whose  only  service  is  homage  and  attend- 
ance in  war;  a  service  which  the  lately-projected  levy  of  the  nobles, 
'  Instirrectio  militaris  comitatuum,'  would  have  rendered  more  than 
a  mere  form.  The  borough-towns  send  members  to  the  Diet,  and 
nearly  resemble  our  own.  With  the  constitution  of  Hungary,  and 
the  forms  of  the  Diet,  &c.,  I  hope  soon  to  be  better  acquainted. 
Besides  the  parish  schools,  there  are  several  very  large  public  ones  ; 
and  at  Buda  is  a  college  with  about  two  thousand  young  men.  I 
could  learn  nothing  about  Pagosdi. 

"  What  we  call  the  hussar  dress  is  the  national  Hungarian 
habit,  and  worn  by  all  classes  and  professions  except  the  clergy. 
With  youth  and  great  symmetry  of  form,  it  is  an  elegant  dress  ; 
but  an  elderly  corpulent  gentleman  in  a  short  laced  jacket  and 
tight  pantaloons,  is  a  figure  which  would  make  one  laugh  even  in 


TOKAY  WINE— HUNGARIAN  DRESS.  307 

the  tooth-ache,  particularly  if  (as  most  elderly  Hungarians  do,)  he    chap. 
wears  a  small  cocked-hat,  a  bag-wig,  and  a  gold-headed  cane.     A      "^"i^- 
little  crooked  hanger  is  generally  added  as  a  badge  of  nobihty. 
The  usual  colovu*  of  the  di'ess  is  black.     The  name  of  the  jacket  is 
'  doliman,'    which  is,   as   well  as  its  form,   Turkish ;     from  this 
nation,  while  in  possession  of  Upper  Hungary,  they  have  borrowed 
many  words  and  customs.     The  tradesmen  and  richer  peasants  are 
generally  dressed  with  large  slouched  hats,  and  blue  cloaks  which 
reach  to  the  ground  like  the  long  Spanish  cloak.     The  poorer 
people  have  a  sort  of  great  coat  made  of  rough  black  wool  like  a 
door-mat.     On  a  journey  they  frequently  carry  a  formidable  blud- 
geon with  a  large  metal  head ;  this  is  called  '  chakan,'  and  is  a 
very  ancient   and  favourite  Hungarian  weapon.     With  regard  to 
the  Hungarian  wine  we  gained  but  little  information ;    a  ridge  of 
hills  extending  from  Caschau  to  Buda,    is  covered  every  where 
with  vineyards,  which  are  by  no  means  so  picturesque  as  I  had 
supposed ;    the  vmes  are  suffered  to  grow  only  to  a  very  small 
height,  and  at  this  time  of  year  are  no  higher  than  gooseberry 
bushes.      *  *  *  *  *  *  « 

*  *****     Winepresses  are 

universally  used,  and  they  laughed  and  made  wry  faces  at  the 
Spanish  and  French  custom  of  treading  out  the  wine  vat.  In  the 
country  of  Agria,  (Erlau)  an  excellent  red  wine  is  made,  and  a  still 
better  at  Buda  ;    this  last  is  very  like  port.      *  *  * 

******  The  best  white  wine, 
the  only  one  indeed  which  will  bear  transporting  to  other  countries, 
is  made  in  the  country  of  Tokay,  and  is  very  dear,  even  on  the 
spot. 

"  Except  the  ridge  of  hills  I  have  mentioned,  and  the  Car- 
pathian mountains  in  the  north,  Hungary  is  a  very  level  comitry, 
and  generally  well  cultivated.  On  one  of  its  vast  plains  I  saw  the 
singular  effect  produced  by  the  sun  in  causing,  what,  at  a  distance, 
had  perfectly  the  ajipearance  of  a  lake, — so  perfectly,  that  both 
Thornton  and  myself  were  at  first  deceived.  This  phenomenon  is 
mentioned  by  Denon  as  common  in  the  deserts  of  Egypt ;  but  I 

R  r  2 


308  DANUBE— PRESBURG. 


CHAP,  have  never  heard  it  accounted  for  satisfactorily.  One  of  the  finest 
inoc.  things  in  Hungary  is  the  Danube,  which  is,  indeed,  a  noble  river ; 
though  not  so  wide  as  the  Volga,  it  is,  even  at  Buda,  as  wide  as 
the  Thames  at  Battersea,  and  its  stream  is  incredibly  swift.  At 
Presburg  it  is  almost  inconceivably  so.  This  town,  the  last  we  saw 
in  Hungary,  and  long  its  capital,  has  little  remarkable,  except  a 
fine  view  from  its  castle,  (a  large  white-washed  building  like  a 
manufactory,)  and  the  hall  where  Maria  Theresa  made  her  famous 
speech.  This  is  a  large  tasteless  place,  something  like  a  shabby 
concert-room  ;  but  it  cannot  fail  to  interest  any  admirer  of  chivalry 
or  patriotism. 

"  Our  journey  has  taken  us  through  the  most  populous  and 
fertile,  but  not  the  most  beautiful  parts  of  Hungary  ;  the  country 
near  Schemnitz  and  Cremnitz,  where  are  the  mines  of  gold,  was 
described  to  us  as  equal  to  Switzerland  ;  but  we  were  not  able  to 
make  so  great  a  detovir.  If  we  had  gone  that  way  to  Presburg,  we 
should  have  seen  nothing  of  the  real  Hungarians  ;  and  to  return  from 
thence  to  Buda,  would  have  been  a  journey  of  two  hundred  miles. 
The  Vaivodship  of  Transylvania,  and  the  two  kingdoms,  as  they 
are  called,  of  Slavonia  and  Croatia,  are,  in  many  respects,  different 
from  Hungary,  even  in  constitution,  government,  and  language. 
Transylvania,  we  were  told,  is  full  of  Calvinist  Saxons,  (brought 
there  by  Bethlem  Gabor)  who  have  several  very  considerable 
manufactories.  Of  Austria  we  have  seen  but  little ;  the  banks  of 
the  Danube  are  woody  and  beautiful ;  and  the  entrance  from  Hun- 
gary is  between  two  high  rocks,  crowned  with  ruinous  castles,  a 
most  magnificent  portal  to  the  '  Holy  Roman  Empire.' 

"  As  far  as  we  can  learn  from  the  best  authorities,  there  will 
be  no  impediment  to  our  journey  through  Prussia.  If,  however, 
there  should  be  any  risk,  (and  we  shall  be  sure  not  to  go  without 
good  security)  the  journey  from  hence  to  Riga  is  always  practicable. 
The  Due  de  Richelieu,  at  Odessa,  told  us  he  has  often  passed 
from  Vienna  to  Riga  in  eight  days,  and  we  hope,  even  seeing 
Cracow  and  the  salt  mines,  not  to  be  above  a  fortnight.    *  * 

*  *  *  *  Whether  we  return  by  Sweden  or 


CONDUCT  OF  FRENCH  IN  VIENNA.  309 

Germany,  we  shall  still  hope  to  be  m  England  before  October     chap. 
begins.  *  *  Sir  Arthur  Paget  and  his  secretaries      'SQ^. 

are  still  here,  which  is  a  fortunate  circumstance  for  us,  as  our  letters 
ai'e  addi'essed  to  them.  Posting  in  Austria  is  double  the  Hun- 
garian price,  having  been,  in  common  with  every  thing  else,  greatly 
enhanced  by  the  late  calamities,  to  which  Hungary  (being  in  some 
respects  neutral)  was  very  little  exposed.  The  general  distress 
seems  here  to  be  great ;  the  main  hope  of  the  people  rests  in  the 
approaching  harvest.  The  French  troops  appear  to  have  behaved 
with  great  moderation  while  in  Vienna  ;  but  though  private  pro- 
perty has  been  respected,  the  state  has  been  terribly  plundered ;  and 
a  season  of  great  scarcity  having  accompanied  the  other  misfortunes, 
the  necessary  piu-chase  of  corn  has  contributed  still  more  to  di'ain 
the  country  of  treasure,  which  they  seem  to  have  but  scanty  means, 
at  present,  of  replacing ;  their  paper  is  at  fifty  per  cent,  discount. 

"  Julij  lOth. — The  post  did  not  give  me  an  opportunity  of 
sending  this  letter  before,  and  I  am  now  happy  to  say  that 
Thornton  is  already  infinitely  better.  *  *  The 

Austrian  nobility  are  almost  all  out  of  town,  as  are  the  emperor 
and  '  Cgesarian  family.'  Thornton  has  made  a  very  remarkable 
progress  m  German  ;  I  have  not  been  so  successful,  though  I  can 
read,  wTite,  and  understand  it  tolerably.  In  Hungary  we  had  no 
practice  ;  and  here  French  appears  to  be  very  generally  spoken, 
even  in  the  shops.  I  forgot  to  mention  that  in  Hungary,  for  the 
first  time  since  leaving  England,  we  saw  gypseys.  Their  com- 
plexion and  stature  are  precisely  the  same  as  in  our  own  country, 
and  they  have  the  same  Asiatic  eye.  As  to  language,  I  am  not  suffi- 
ciently versed  in  Bamfylde  Moore  Carew  to  say  whether  it  resem- 
bles the  Anglo-Egyptian  or  no." 

To  Mrs.  Heber. 

Baden,  July  22,  1826. 

"  My  Dear  Mother, 

"  You  will  be  surprised  to  see  the  place  fi-om  which 
my  letter  is  dated.    This  is,  however,  not  the  electoral  Baden,  but  a 


310  VIENNA— THEATRES. 

CHAP,  town  celebrated  for  mineral  waters  about  fifteen  miles  from  Vienna. 
tsoG-  The  baths  have  been  prescribed  for  Thornton's  lameness,  which, 
though  infinitely  better,  is  still  by  no  means  quite  well ;  but  we  hope 
that  about  ten  days  bathing  will  quite  set  him  up.  We  shall  then 
continue  our  journey  homeward,  our  curiosity  being  pretty  nearly 
satisfied  at  Vienna.  With  this  so  much  celebrated  town  I  am,  I 
own,  disappointed.  Our  expectations  had,  certainly,  been  raised 
too  high  by  the  successive  increase  of  elegance  and  civilization 
which  we  had  found  in  passmg  from  Podolia  to  Galicia,  and  from 
Galicia  to  Hungary :  and  we  concluded  that  such  fine  provincial 
towns  as  we  saw  every  where  must  have  a  very  magnificent  capital. 
Yet  Vienna,  though  clean,  well  built,  and  pleasantly  situated,  is  by 
no  means  magnificent ;  and  is,  in  almost  every  point  of  view,  far 
inferior  to  Petersburg  or  Stockholm.  The  city,  which  is  still  sur- 
rounded by  a  vast  ditch,  and  a  neglected  range  of  ramparts,  which 
are  now  only  valuable  as  a  pleasant  walk  for  the  inhabitants,  is  not, 
I  think,  larger  than  York.  It  is,  however,  very  populous.  The 
houses  are  all  five  or  six  stories  high,  and  the  streets  so  narrow, 
that  two  carriages  can  only  just  pass,  and  in  many  places  only  one. 
Withm  this  crowded  enclosvu'e  are  contained  the  palace,  all  the 
finest  buildings,  the  Cathedrals,  all  the  shops,  &c.  &c.  The 
suburbs,  which  are  very  extensive,  and  contain  many  handsome 
streets  and  houses,  are  merely  suburbs  still,  the  streets  being  un- 
paved.  The  population  of  the  town  and  suburbs  together  is  about 
200,000.  The  public  and  private  buildings  are  all  good,  and  some 
very  fine ;  and  notwithstanding  the  inferiority  of  the  town  to  Pe- 
tersburg and  Moscow,  there  are,  in  the  shops,  in  the  number  of 
well-dressed  persons  in  the  streets,  in  the  general  appearance  of 
bustle  and  industry,  all  those  traits  which  are,  I  beheve,  charac- 
teristic of  European  towns  only. 

"  There  are  several  German  theatres,  but  none  either  French 
or  Italian.  We  have  been  pretty  frequent  attendants  at  their 
representations ;  and  you  will  perhaps  laugh  when  I  tell  you  that 
we  are  both  far  gone  in  om-  admu-ation  of  German  literature. 
Their  occasional  bad  taste  is,  unfortunately,  evident  enough ;  but 


GERMAN  LITERATURE— THE  PRATER.  311 

an  Englishman  will  form  a  very  unfavourable  idea  of  German     chap. 
books  in  general  from  Mr.  Render's  translation  of  some  of  Kotze-      i^oii. 


bue's  worst  plays.  Of  their  poetry,  I  am  as  yet  scarcely  qualified 
to  give  an  opinion ;  but  of  their  prose  works  I  am  induced  to 
think  highly.  For  history,  in  particular,  the  German  language  is 
admirably  adapted  ;  no  other  language,  except  Greek,  and  per- 
haps Latin,  possesses  so  much  harmony  and  variety  in  its  periods, 
and  the  construction  of  its  sentences,  as  German.  At  the  same 
time,  I  know  no  language  but  English  that  is  capable  of  so  beau- 
tiful and  perfect  a  simplicity  as  some  parts  of  Luther's  translation 
of  the  Bible. 

"  The  principal  beauty  of  Vienna  is  its  fountains,  some  of 
which  are  adorned  with  very  elegant  statues.  There  is  a  large 
equestrian  statue  of  Joseph  the  Second,  which  is  just  erected  ;  it 
is  as  yet  so  surrounded  with  scafFokhng  that  it  is  unfair  to  decide 
on  its  merits,  which,  how^ever,  do  not  seem  very  great.  The  horse 
is  the  best  part,  as  may  be  expected  from  there  being  so  many 
good  models  m  Vienna.  I  have  never  seen  a  place  where  there 
are  such  fine  horses ;  even  the  hackney  coaches  are  sometimes 
drawTi  by  animals  that  an  English  gentleman  would  be  glad 
to  put  into  his  carriage.  The  towni  is  very  rich  in  beautiful  public 
walks,  of  which  the  principal  are  the  Prater  and  the  Augarten, 
which  belong  to  the  crowii,  and  which  Joseph  the  Second  threw 
open.  They  are  not  quite  so  good  as  Kensington  gardens,  and 
are  very  inferior  to  the  park  at  Stockholm.  The  society  of  Vienna 
is  at  this  time  almost  all  dispersed ;  and  to  those  who  remained 
our  diplomatic  friends  have  shown  very  little  inclination  to  assist 
us  with  introductions.  We  had  fortunately  brought  a  good  many 
with  us  from  Russia  and  Poland,  and  have  every  reason  to  be 
pleased  with  the  acquaintances  we  have  formed.  We  have  met 
with  much  hospitality  from  the  Count  Oreilly;  he  is  by  birth 
Irish,  but  is  a  general  in  the  Austrian  service.  The  Countess 
Oreilly  is  a  very  clever  little  woman,  sister  to  Count  Schwar, 
whom  we  knew  in  Lemberg.  These,  with  Baron  Arnstein  and 
Countess  Purgstall  are  our  principal  friends.     Count  Purgstall  is 


312  CONDUCT  OF  THE  FRENCH  IN  AUSTRIA. 

CHAP,     a  very  well  informed  man,  who  has  been  a  good  deal  in  England 

1800.^  and  Scotland, 

"  The  emperor  is  now  at  Baden  ;  no  opportunity  has  offered, 
or  is  very  likely  to  offer  itself  for  our  being  presented  to  him, 
which  is,  mdeed,  at  this  time  of  year,  but  of  little  consequence ;  in 
winter  it  is  always  customary.  We  have  been  introduced  to  the 
Prussian  minister,  whom  we  met  at  Baron  Arnstein's.  He  con- 
firmed what  we  had  been  told  regarding  the  safety  of  travelling 
through  Prussia,  and  promised  us  every  necessary  passport.  The 
journey  is,  indeed,  a  very  short  one ;  from  hence  to  Hamburg  it  is 
only  six  days,  if  we  relinquished  Dresden  and  Berlin,  and  it  is 
even  possible  to  reach  England  in  ten  days  from  Vienna.  This 
letter  ought  to  do  it  in  less,  but  the  posts  here  are  sometimes 
tedious." 

To  Mrs.  Heher. 

"  Dresden,  August  20iJi,  1806. 

"  My  DEAR  Mother, 

"  *  *  *  We  left  Vienna  very  melancholy  ;  every  day  new 
encroachments  and  menaces  of  Buonaparte,  increased  depreciation 
of  the  public  credit,  and  fresh  proofs  of  the  weakness  and  timidity 
of  the  government,  were  talked  of  with  a  sort  of  stupid  despair, 
which  seemed  as  if  the  people  had  ceased  to  care  for  what  they 
could  no  longer  prevent.  The  English  were  very  popular,  and 
the  French  most  warmly  detested,  to  which  the  excessive  inso- 
lence of  Andreossi  and  Rochefoucalt,  the  ambassadors,  very  much 
conduced.  The  army  were  longing  for  war,  but  the  people  had 
lost  all  hopes  except  of  tranquillity  for  a  month  or  two  longer. 
The  seizure  of  Gradesca  was  known  the  night  before  we  left 
Vienna,  and  it  was  just  announced  that  the  Roman  empire  was  at 
an  end.  While  these  usurpations  were  going  on,  the  French 
troops  in  Bavaria  kept  menacing  their  frontier,  and  Andi-eossi's 
threats  were,  it  is  said,  excessively  violent  and  vulgar.  Such  is 
the  state  of  the  country  with  a  population  of  22,000,000,  an  army 
of  350,000  highly  disciplined  troops,  and  with  a  general  hke  the 


AUSTRIAN  AEMY.  313 

Archduke  Charles  !  You  -will,  of  course,  wish  to  know  what  causes    chap. 

IX. 

have  brought  them  so  low,  as  the  loss  of  a  few  battles  is  quite  ^^o"- 
insufficient  to  produce  such  terrible  effects.  They  themselves  all 
agree  in  saying  that  it  was  the  peace  of  Presburg  which  ruined  them; 
and  that  if  the  government  had  been  more  patient  and  courageous, 
the  most  unsuccessful  war  would  have  been  better  than  such  a 
capitulation.  But  besides  the  cowardice  of  the  emperor,  the 
dreadful  state  of  their  finances,  the  broken  spirit  of  their  troops, 
and  the  total  want  of  confidence  between  the  sovereign  and  the 
people,  were  perhaps  sufficient  reasons.  The  troops  are  indeed 
very  fine  fellows,  but  their  misery  is  great ;  their  pay  is  about  five 
farthings  English  a  day,  with  an  allowance  of  brown  bread;  and  we 
were  told  by  several  officers  that  their  men  Avere  literally  almost 
starving.  The  wounded  and  superannuated  have  no  provision  at 
all,  but  are  turned  out  to  beg,  and  the  streets  are  full  of  them. 
Yet  the  army  thus  kept  absolutely  beggars  the  country.  Indeed 
the  English  must  not  complain  of  taxes.  The  Austrians  last  year 
paid  an  income  tax  of  thirty  per  cent,  besides  other  taxes,  and 
tlu-ee  contributions  in  corn  and  cattle  to  support  their  army  and 
that  of  the  French.  This  year  they  expect  to  pay  ten  per  cent, 
upon  capital ;  and  all  is  far  too  little  to  supply  the  wants  of  their 
own  government  and  the  rapacity  of  the  French,  who  still  hover 
on  the  frontier,  and  as  the  Austrians  themselves  expect,  will  pick 
another  quarrel  before  many  weeks  are  over.  Should  this  take 
place,  I  do  not  see  what  better  event  can  be  hoped  for  than  has 
already  happened.  The  archdukes  will  be  again  thrown  into 
the  back  ground ;  and  till  the  emperor  has  lost  all  his  crowns  he 
will  not  be  prevailed  on  to  trust  his  own  brothers,  or  any  body 
but  his  wife, 

"  The  conduct  of  the  French  in  Vienna  was,  for  many  reasons, 
extremely  moderate  and  soldier-like ;  no  plunder,  or  even  thefts 
were  heard  of;  and  the  shopkeepers  derived  a  temporary  emo- 
lument, which  kept  them  quiet,  though  the  contributions  were 
excessive  aiid  ruinous.  There  was  some  little  dissaffection  among 
VOL.  I.  s   s 


314  BUONAPARTE— BATTLE  OF  AUSTERLITZ. 

CHAP,    those  troops  which  were  brought  from  Boulogne,  and  in  general 
i8o«-      Buonaparte's  arrival  was  unpopular  among  the  officers. 

"  Of  Buonaparte's  conduct  and  appearance,  many  interesting 
particulars  were  to  be  learnt.  Nothing  struck  me  more  than  his 
excessive  hatred  of  England  and  Russia,  particularly  the  former. 
For  the  Austrians  he  only  expressed  contempt,  and  that  galling 
pity  which  is  worse  and  more  intolerable  than  the  bitterest  insult. 
But  whenever  he  spoke  of  England  (and  he  seldom  spoke  of  any 
thing  else,)  it  was,  in  the  words  of  my  informant,  Count  Purgstall, 
who,  from  his  situation,  was  constantly  with  Buonaparte,  '  like 
Haman  speaking  of  Mordecai  the  Jew.'  All  the  Austrians  joined 
in  saying,  that  the  only  hope  of  safety  for  England  was  in  a  con- 
tinuance of  the  war,  and  I  was  perfectly  of  the  same  opinion. 
God  grant  Lord  Lauderdale  a  speedy  and  unsuccessful  return  from 
Paris. 

"  From  Vienna  we  went  to  Briinn,  and  passed  a  whole  day  in 
tracing  out  and  drawing  plans  of  the  battle  of  Austerlitz.  Except 
a  few  skeletons  of  horses,  and  a  few  trees  m  hich  have  been  shivered 
by  bullets,  all  wears  its  ancient  appearance. 

'  As  if  these  shades  since  time  was  bom, 
Had  only  heard  the  shepherd's  reed, 
Nor  started  at  the  bugle  horn.' 

We  had  General  Stutterheim's  account  of  the  battle  in  our  hand, 
and  likemse  drew  much  information  from  a  sensible  farmer  in  the 
village  of  Scholmitz.  All  the  stories  we  had  heard  in  Russia  were 
very  false  ;  and  the  Austrians'  account  of  the  behaviour  of  the 
Russian  troops  equally  so.  The  loss  of  the  battle  is  entirely  attri- 
butable to  the  scandalous  want  of  information  of  the  Austrians,  and 
to  the  extended  line  on  which  Kotusof  made  the  attack.  The 
French  had  behaved  very  well  till  their  victory,  but  after  it  they 
committed  great  excesses  among  the  villages  ;  the  Russians  were 
popular  among  the  common  people,  which  at  once  proved  the 
falsehood    of  the   scandals    circulated   against  them   at  Vienna. 


PRAGUE— DRESDEN.  315 

At  last,  however,  they  too  were  driven  to  plunder ;  but  it  was  by  chap. 
absolute  flunine,  owing  to  the  miserable  weakness  of  the  Austrian  isbe. 
government,  and  the  bad  conduct  of  their  agents.  The  Russians 
understood  the  Moravian  language,  being  only  a  dialect  of  the 
Slavonian  ;  and  this  circumstance  endeared  them  a  good  deal  to 
the  people.  The  loss  of  the  French  on  this  memorable  day  was 
much  greater  than  they  have  been  willing  to  allow.  My  informant 
had  passed  the  morning  after  the  battle  from  Scholmitz  by  Pratzen 
to  Austerlitz.  On  the  hill  of  Pratzen,  he  said,  '  I  could  not  set 
my  foot  to  the  ground  for  blue  uniforms.*  I  drew  three  or  four 
plans  of  the  ground,  and  at  last  succeeded  in  making  a  very  exact 
one.  While  I  was  thus  employed,  I  was  taken  for  a  French  spy, 
and  accosted  by  some  farmers,  who  asked,  with  many  apologies, 
for  my  passport.  I  told  them  I  had  none,  and  a  very  curious 
village  council  of  war  was  held,  which  was  terminated  by  the 
arrival  of  Thornton,  and  the  guide  we  had  taken  from  Briinn. 

"  Our  road  through  Bohemia  olffered  little  that  was  inter- 
esting. Prague  is  a  large  and  fine  city,  much  superior  to  Vienna ; 
and  the  banks  of  the  Elbe  are  exquisitely  beautiful.  Dresden  and 
its  environs  are,  you  know,  very  famous,  but  I  think  over-praised. 
Pray  thank  my  brother  for  his  two  very  interesting  and  kind 
letters.  I  am  glad  to  hear  the  Shropshire  volunteers  still  exist.  I 
have  been  studying  some  of  the  Austrian  manoeuvres,  which  are 
very  simple  and  good ;  but  I  really  do  not  think  equal  to  the  old 
eighteen,  except  that  they  do  not  wheel  backwards.  We  are  deep 
in  an  excellent  library,  and  a  noble  collection  of  pictures.  Here 
is  a  small  court  on  the  old  system,  at  which  we  shall  be  pre- 
sented next  Monday.  It  is  ridiculous  enough  to  think  how  little 
we  have  seen  of  courts ;  and  it  would,  I  believe,  have  grieved 
many  young  men,  at  least  those  who  like  to  talk  of  kings  and 
princes.  Every  thing  in  Dresden  is  of  the  old  school,  and  the 
guards  are  dressed  like  Marlborough's  soldiers  in  arras,  or  the 
prints  in  the  '  Norfolk  militia,'  which used  to  laugh  at. 

"  We  have  not  yet  decided  how  soon  we  shall  leave  this  place ; 
but  hope  to  do  so  next  week.     We  go  through  Leipzig  and/VMt- 

s  s  2 


316  SAXON  PEASANTRY. 

CHAP,     temberg  to  Berlin.     The  Prussians  are  marching  and  moving  with 


IX. 


i"oc-  great  activity,  nobody  knows  where ;  and  the  French,  it  is  said, 
are  hkewise  making  movements.  The  Prussians  we  meet  with  here 
talk  very  big  and  violently  against  the  French. 

"  We  shall  certainly  be  with  you  early  in  October,  spite  of 
these  little  delays.     Believe  me,  w^e  lose  no  time  unnecessarily. 

"  Your  affectionate  Son, 

"  Reginald  Heber." 

To  Mrs.  Heher. 

Berlin,  September  \Mh,  1806. 
"  Dear  Mother, 

"  We  left  Dresden  the  first  of  this  month  ;  having, 
during  our  stay  there,  made  a  four  days'  excursion  into  the  moun- 
tainous part  of  the  country,  which  is  really  very  beautiful,  though 
it  scarcely  deserves  its  usual  title,  'the  Saxon  Switzerland.'  I 
believe,  indeed,  that  our  eyes,  having  been  accustomed  to  the 
gigantic  features  of  Norway  and  the  Crimea,  are  grown  a  little 
fastidious;  and  that  many  things  which  appear  now  on  a  very 
small  scale,  would,  when  we  first  set  out,  have  struck  us  greatly. 
We  were  very  much  pleased  with  the  Saxon  peasantry,  whose 
cleanliness,  industry,  and  civilization,  surpass  all  we  have  seen 
since  we  left  Sweden ;  in  all  the  German  districts,  except,  perhaps, 
Bohemia,  the  sitviation  of  the  peasants  is  extremely  comfortable. 
Our  journey  fron>  Dresden  hither  took  up  eight  days  ;  as  we  made 
a  considerable  detour  for  the  purpose  of  seeing  Leipzig,  Halle, 
and  Wittemberg.  At  the  first  place  Thornton  found  an  old  friend. 
Lord  John  Fitzroy,  who  is  a  student  at  the  university,  and  whom 
we  had  last  year  seen  embark  for  Husum,  at  the  same  moment 
that  we  were  weighing  anchor  for  Gottenburg.  He  has  been  ever 
since  at  Leipzig,  and  lodges  in  the  same  rooms  which  belonged  to 
Herbert  Marsh.  He  showed  us  all  the  curiosities  of  the  place, 
which  are  indeed  few,  and  consist  chiefly  of  some  very  beautiful 
shady  walks,  much  superior  either  to  Magdalen  or  Christ  Church, 


HALLE— WITTEMBERG.  317 

and  several  book-shops.  In  another  point  of  view,  Leipzig  is  very  chap. 
interesting,  beuig  the  centre  of  all  the  inland  commerce  of  Europe,  ""^6- 
and,  perhaps,  next  to  Astrachan,  the  spot  where  most  people  and 
languages  are  assembled.  During  the  great  fairs  it  is  frequented 
by  all  the  nations  of  Europe,  and  even  by  the  Cossaks  and  Malo- 
Russians,  who  bring  vast  droves  of  cattle.  There  is  a  very  neat 
Chiu'ch,  which  the  people  of  Leipzig  boast  to  be  the  most  beautiful 
Lutheran  place  of  worship  in  the  world.  Those  who  talk  in  this 
manner  have  never  seen  Upsala ;  but,  in  fact,  taste  in  religious 
architecture  is,  among  the  Lutherans,  at  a  very  low  ebb.  They 
have  contrived  to  unite  in  most  of  then*  Churches  much  of  the 
slovenhness  of  Calvinism,  with  a  very  plentiful  allowance  of  the 
tawdry  gilding  and  imagery  of  the  Cathohcs.  The  Calvinistic 
Churches  are  by  far  the  dirtiest  things  I  ever  saw ;  and  of  all  the 
religious  sects  in  these  countries,  the  Moravians,  whom  we  saw  at 
Hernhut,  in  Saxony,  keep  their  places  of  worship  with  most  neat- 
ness and  decency. 

"  Halle  is  only  remarkable  for  a  large  public  school  and  orphan 
asylum,  and  for  one  of  the  most  considerable  universities  in  Germany. 
Our  reason  for  wishing  to  see  it  was  that  Thornton's  father  was 
brought  up  there ;  it  being  then  considered  as  the  head  quarters 
of  what  in  Germany  is  called  '  pietism.'  It  has,  at  present,  lost, 
I  believe,  all  pretensions  to  superior  sanctity,  and  is  talked  of 
throughout  the  country  as  a  riotous  and  dissolute  place.  The 
students  amount  to  eleven  or  twelve  hundred ;  they  are  without 
any  sort  of  discipline,  and  dressed  in  various  fanciful  costumes, 
chiefly  hussar  jackets.  Four  or  five  duels  are  calcvdated  to  take 
place  among  them  in  a  month  ;  the  usual  weapon  is  the  sabre,  and 
we  saw  several  young  men  who  still  bore  the  scars  of  their  ren- 
counters. 

"  From  Halle  we  went  to  Wittemberg,  which  is  likewise  a 
university,  mentioned,  you  know,  in  Hamlet,  and  celebrated  also 
for  the  tombs  of  Luther  and  Melancthon,  and  the  room  where  the 
former  lived.  Our  journey  between  these  towns  was  very  slow 
and  tedious.     We  are,  alas  !  no  longer  to  enjoy  the  bowling  roads 

10 


318  POTSDAM— BERLIN. 


IX 

180G 


CHAP,  and  galloping  horses  of  Sweden  and  Russia,  or  even  the  decent 
_  jog-trot  of  the  Austrian  drivers.  In  Saxony,  indeed,  there  are, 
generally  speaking,  turnpike-roads ;  and  by  a  little  exertion  and 
paying  the  post-boy  high,  we  were  enabled  to  get  on  at  the  rate  of 
about  three  English  miles  in  the  hour.  But  on  leaving  Wittem- 
berg  we  immediately  plumped  into  about  a  yard  deep  of  sand, 
and  were  for  the  first  time  made  fully  sensible  of  the  cruel  exact- 
ness of  the  description  in  the  prologue  to  the  '  Robbers.* 

'  Slow  are  the  steeds  that  through  Germania's  roads,  &c.  &c.' 

"  At  Potsdam  we  saw  the  palace.  Sans  Souci,  the  tomb  of 
Frederick  the  Great,  his  apartments  and  library,  which  are  suffered 
to  remain  unaltered,  and  where  his  clothes,  his  sword,  and  some  of 
his  MSS.  are  shown.  Potsdam  is  a  small  but  very  well-built  town ; 
and  Berlin  is  decidedly,  next  to  Petersburg,  the  finest  city  I  have 
ever  seen.  We  shall  stay  here,  I  believe,  a  week  or  ten  days  longer ; 
and  have  then  some  thoughts  of  going  to  Stralsund  to  see  the  king 
of  Sweden,  and  thence  to  proceed  to  Hamburg  by  Mecklenburg 
and  Lubec.  This  would  complete  our  northern  tour,  to  which 
nothing  was  wanting  but  a  sight  of  Gustavus  the  Third  and  his 
army.  Of  the  king  of  Prussia  and  his  queen,  the  most  celebrated 
beauty  in  Germany,  we  have  not  yet  obtained  a  sight. 

"  Believe  me,  dear  Mother, 

"  Your  dutiful  Son, 

"  Reginald  Heber." 

To  Mrs.  Heher. 

Yarmouth,  October  14,  1806. 
"  Dear  Mother, 

"  We  are  tliis  moment  landed  from  the  Florence 

cutter,  which  Lord  Morpeth,  whom  we  met  at  Hamburg,  was  so 

kind  as  to  give  us  permission  to  make  use  of.     We  have  had  a  very 

agreeable  voyage,  and  are  both  well.     I  hope  to  be  at  Hodnet 

Saturday  evening.     Love  to  all  the  dear  party.     We  bring  no  good 


YARMOUTH.  319 


news '.     The  king  of  Prussia  and  Buonaparte  were  a  few  posts    chap 
from  each  other,   and  by  this  time  they  have  probably  had   an 


engagement.     The   elector  of  Hesse  has  refused  all  the  king's 
proposals,  and  is  expected  to  join  the  French. 

"  BeUeve  me  your  affectionate  Son, 

"  Reginald  Heber." 

'  On  the  day  on  which  this  letter  was  written,  the  battle  of  Jena  was  fought,  wliich  gave 
Buonaparte  possession  of  the  whole  of  Prussia,  and  led  to  the  peace  of  Tilsit  in  the  ensuing 
spring. — Ed. 


1806. 


CHAPTER    X. 


Mr.  Reginald  Heher''s  return  home — Elections — Letter  from  Sir  James  Riddell — 
Dinner  given  to  the  Hodnet  Volunteers — Oxford  University  election — Reflections 
on  the  battle  of  Jena — Different  routes  through  Sweden,  Noru-ay,  Sfc.  Sjc.  de- 
scribed— Remarks  on  Calvin  and  St.  Angiistin — On  the  thirty-nine  Articles — 
Recollections  of  Mr.  Reginald  Heber's  university  career,  in  a  letter  from  a 
friend — "  Romaiint  du  grand  Roye  Pantagritelle" — Jeux  d'esprit — Lines  writ- 
ten at  Birmingham — Reflections  on  taking  orders — Publication  of  "  Europe" — 
Quarterly  Review. 


CHAP.  Mr.  Reginald  Heber  returned  from  the  continent  in  September, 
I80S.  1806,  at  the  time  of  the  general  election ;  and  he  was  soon  actively 
employed  in  canvassing  for  his  brother,  whose  friends  were  endea- 
vouring to  procure  his  return  for  the  university  of  Oxford.  He 
also  resumed  his  correspondence  with  Mr.  Thornton,  who  was 
similarly  engaged  on  behalf  of  his  father  and  of  his  uncle,  the  late 
Henry  Thornton,  M.P.  for  Southwark. 

To  John  Thornton,  Esq. 

Hodnet  Hall,  October  21,  1806, 
"  My  Dear  Friend, 

"  *  *  *  I  stopt  at  Oxford  a  day ;  all  was  there  in 
a  bustle.  Sir  W,  Dolben  having  resigned  his  seat  for  the  university. 
The  Dean  of  Christ  Church  has  set  up  Abbott.  My  brother  is  in 
Yorkshire,  but  I  have  written  him  word  of  this.  If  you  have  an 
opportunity  of  giving  him  a  good  word,  I  am  sure  you  will  do  it.  I 
am  in  very  anxious  expectation  of  hearing  of  you.     God  knows,  you 


MR.  REGINALD  HEBER'S  RETURN  HOME.  321 

wanted  rest  more  than  the  bustle  of  an  election.     Take  care  of    chap. 
yourself  isoe. 

"  I  found  all  here  quite  well,  and  my  volunteers  complete  in 
number,  and  in  high  spirits.  I  have  been  much  delighted  with 
the  kindness  of  my  men  and  neighbours,  and  the  pleasure  they 
have  expressed  at  my  return.  The  fanners  and  people  of  the  village 
have  subscribed  among  themselves  to  purchase  three  sheep,  and 
have  made  a  great  feast  for  the  volunteers,  their  wives  and  families, 
on  the  occasion  of  '  Master  Reginald's  coming  back  safe.'  It  takes 
place  to  day,  and  they  are  now  laying  their  tables  on  the  green  be- 
fore the  house.  I  am  just  going  to  put  on  my  old  red  jacket  and 
join  them.  How  I  do  love  these  good  peojile  !  If  my  friends  had 
made  a  feast  for  me,  it  would  have  been  to  be  expected ;  but  that 
the  peasants  themselves  should  give  a  fete  chamjoetre  to  their  land- 
lord's younger  brother,  would,  I  think,  puzzle  a  Russian. 

"  I  wish  you  a  speedy  deliverance  from  the  delights  of  a  can- 
vass, and  a  return  to  your  own  family  and  your  own  people,  among 
the  beech-woods  of  Albury.  I  hope  yet  to  see  them  on  some  fu- 
ture occasion.  Hodnet  is  very  little  altered,  except  that  the  trees 
are  grown.     My  father's  little  oak  is  very  thriving. 

"  Believe  me,  dear  Thornton, 
"  Your's  truly, 

"  Reginald  Heber." 

2'o  Jolm  Tliornton,  Esq. 

All  Souls,  November  11, 1806. 
"  My  Dear  Thornton, 

"  I  have  not  the  least  intention  to  condole  either 
with  you  or  your  father ;  you  have  both  every  reason  to  be  con- 
tented with  yourselves  ;  and  the  ungrateful  mob,  for  whose  interests 
he  has  been  labovuing  so  long,  are  the  only  persons  to  be  pitied. 
I  am,  however,  sorry,  very  sorry,  that  his  integrity  and  knowledge 
of  business  are  lost  to  the  public,  when  such  qualities  are  more 
VOL.  I.  T   t 


322  ELECTIONS. 

CHAP,    than  ever  necessary ;  and  I  can  scarcely  think  he  has  acted  well  in 

i80f-      declining  the  struggle  for  the  county. 

"  As  for  my  brother  and  myself,  we  are  very  little  disap- 
pointed, and  still  less  cast  down.  My  brother's  minority  is  the 
most  numerous  ever  known  on  a  similar  occasion  ;  and  as  the  whole 
weight  of  government  went  against  him,  it  was  scarcely  to  be  ex- 
pected that  a  mere  country  gentleman,  with  no  interest  but  his 
personal  character,  and  from  whom  nothing  was  to  be  got  or  ex- 
pected, could  have  produced  such  serious  numbers,  of  which  not  a 
single  vote  could  be  attributed  to  unworthy  or  unfit  motives. 
Heber  himself  wrote  to  me  that  he  had  received  the  news  of  his 
defeat  with  feelings  very  different  fi'om  wounded  pride  or  disap- 
pointed ambition ;  and  that  if  he  could  trust  his  own  heart,  he 
would  not  then  change  places  with  Abbott.  Some  of  our  friends 
had  started  objections  to  Abbott's  eligibility,  and  a  petition  was 
recommended  ;  but  Heber  has  returned  a  positive  refusal,  and  has 
sent  his  opponent  word,  that  he  had  no  intention  to  dispute  the 
point  any  further. 

"  For  myself,  I  fear  my  temper  is  less  sober  than  that  of  my 
brother.  I  was  more  elated  by  the  fair  prospect  of  success  he 
once  had  before  him ;  and  I  was,  I  believe,  more  depressed  by  his 
failure.  But  this  very  feeling  is  a  proof  that  my  temper  was  in 
need  of  disappointment ;  and  that  this,  as  well  as  some  other  little 
rubs  I  have  met  with  since  my  return,  are  very  gentle  physic  to 
what  I  might  expect.  *  *  * 

*  »  *  *  * 

*  *  *  How  very  different  has  been 
your  condvict ;  you,  out  of  health  and  out  of  spirits,  with  three 
elections  at  once  tormenting  you,  could  still  find  time  to  write 
letters  and  use  your  interest  for  my  brother.  One  of  these  was 
shown  me  by  Spooner,  which  I  saw  by  the  date  was  written 
during  the  warmest  period  of  the  contest  in  the  Borough.  This 
effort  of  your  friendship  produced  in  me  very  mingled  sentiments. 
I  was  inclined  to  blame  myself  for  having  troubled  you  with  any 
application  ;  but  when  I  wrote  I  knew  not  that  you  had  so  much 

9 


BATTLE  OF  JENA.  323 

on  your  hands ;  your  father  I  considered  as  certainly  secure,  and     chap. 
your  uncle  as  nearly  so.     To  say  that  I  thank  you  for  what  you      'sou. 
have  done,  would  be  very  useless  and  very  idle  ;  I  expected  much 
from  your  friendship,  but,  under  your  own  embarrassing  circum- 
stances, you  have  done  even  more  than  I  wished. 

"  With  regard  to  the  fatal  14th  of  October ',  to  which  you 
allude,  I  often  think  of  it  till  I  am  half  crazy,  and  endeavour  in 
pure  despair  to  drive  it  out  of  my  head.  There  is,  however,  a 
much  better  use  to  be  made  of  such  reflections  ;  and  I  cannot  help 
tliinking  with  shame,  how  unfit  I  now  am  for  such  a  situation  as 
Jaenicke,  or  our  poor  friend  the  Hofprediger  at  Dresden.  Poor 
fellow  !  the  first  half  of  his  sad  prophecies  is  fulfilled  ;  I  know  not 
whether  the  Papstthum  s  gewaltsame  Schritte  will  follow.  We 
have,  however,  the  old  and  popular  motto  left  to  comfort  us, 
dieses  Haus  steJit  in  Gottes  Hand ;  and  as  long  as  we  have  that 
comfort  we  want  little  else.  I  am  myself,  however,  by  no  means 
despairing;  the  flood  of  conquest  now  spread  over  so  large  a 
surface,  by  that  very  difflision  becomes  shallower  perhaps  and  less 
formidable;  and  wliile  France  must  combat  with  Russia  in  Poland, 
I  cannot  but  think  she  will  leave  her  side  exposed  to  an  attack 

from  England.     I  wish  our  cowardly  ministry  would  think  so  too. 

«  *  *  *  *  *  « 

"  Pray  take  care  of  your  health  ;  I  am  glad  you  are  now  by 
the  sea  and  are  going  to  Albury.  I  have  great  confidence  in  your 
good  constitution,  but  do  not  face  the  fogs  of  Westminster  till 
you  are  quite  strong  again." 

7'o  John  TJwrnton,  Esq. 

All  Souls,  1806. 

"  To  see  Cambridge  with  you  has  been  always  a  pleasure  to 
which  I  have  looked  forward  with  a  kind  of  doubtful  hope. 
This  year  I  dare  scarcely  think  of  it ;  but  I  will  not  as  yet  quite 

'  The  day  of  the  battle  of  Jena. — Ed. 
T    t    2 


324  PREPARATION  FOR  TAKING  ORDERS. 

CHAP,  give  it  up.  I  have  been  only  three  days  with  my  mother  and 
isQfi-  sister  since  my  return  to  England  ;  since  the  bustle  of  the  election 
has  ended,  I  have  been  detained  in  Oxford  by  the  necessity  of 
keeping  the  term.  My  time  is  now  indeed  so  limited,  and  I  am 
so  divided  between  duty  to  my  mother  and  duty  to  myself  in 
fagging,  that  I  am  not  sure  that  two  journeys,  short  as  they  are, 
will  be  in  my  power.  Under  these  circumstances  I  had  much 
rather  see  you  and  your  family  at  Albury,  than  sit  next  to  Major 
Markus  at  a  long  table  in  the  Hall  of  Trinity. 

"  You  do  not  say  a  word  about  your  health,  which  augurs,  I 
hope,  well ;  my  own  has  continued  good.  I  have  had  but  one 
very  little  return  of  my  old  complaint,  which  was  removed  in  a  few 
days ;  it  was  occasioned,  I  believe  in  part,  by  the  fidget  of  mind 
and  sedentariness  of  body,  which  a  college  life,  under  my  late 
peculiar  circumstances,  was  likely  enough  to  produce. 

"  With  regard  to  my  studies,  I  am  now  post  varios  casus  set 
down  to  them  again  in  good  earnest,  and  am  so  delightfully 
situated  in  All  Souls,  that  the  very  air  of  the  place  breathes  study. 
While  I  write  I  am  enjoying  the  luxui'ies  of  a  bright  coal  fire,  a 
green  desk,  and  a  tea-kettle  bubbling.  What  should  we  have 
thought  of  such  a  situation  at  Tcherkask  or  at  Taganrog  ? 

"  I  have  just  had  a  very  long  conversation  with  Bishop 
Cleaver  '  about  orders,  and  the  course  of  study  and  preparation  of 
mind  necessary  for  them.  I  have  kept  myself  entirely  from 
drawing  plans  of  houses,  &c.  and  though  '  Guibert  stir  la  grande 
lactique,'  unfortunately  seduced  me  a  little  as  he  lay  very  tempt- 
ingly on  my  study  table,  I  have  done  with  him  ;  tactics  are  now, 
indeed,  enough  to  make  a  man  sick.  What  are  our  wise  ministers 
about,  sending  Lord  Hutchinson,  at  this  time  of  day,  to  the  con- 
tinent ?" 

The  next  letter  is  addressed  to  Mr.  Hay,  now  under  secre- 
tary of  state  for  the  colonies,  with  whom  Mr.  Reginald  Heber  had 

'  Then  Principal  of  Brasenose. — Ed. 


DIFFERENT  ROUTES  THROUGH  SWEDEN,  NORWAY,  &c.  325 

fonned  an  intimacy  at  College,  and  who  had  applied  to  him  for     ch.w. 
information  concerning  the  routes  to  the  south  of  Russia  and  the      i^<"' 
Crimea. 

To  R.  TV.  Hmj,  Esq. 

Oxford,  Nov.  1806. 

"  Dear  Hay, 

"  As  you  seem  to  think  that  there  were  three  roads 
you  might  possibly  take  in  your  tour,  I  will  mention  what  little  I 
know  about  each  of  them.  From  Gottenburg,  if  you  go  to  Norway, 
you  will  go  by  Bahnus  where  there  is  a  fine  old  castle,  Trolhatta, 
which  you  know,  and  Udevalla,  a  beautiful  situation,  where  there 
used  to  be  a  good  inn ;  but  since  I  was  there  the  town  has  greatly 
suffered  by  fire.  On  the  hills  near  Hede  are  some  Druidical  re- 
mains ;  the  passage  into  Norway  is  at  S^vinsund,  where  you  must  be 
cautious  to  have  your  passport  properly  backed,  as  there  is  a  great 
jealousy  between  Sweden  and  Norway.  Mr.  Anker  is  the  principal 
merchant  in  Fridirickshall ;  to  him  you  must  have  letters  of  intro- 
duction. 

"  Between  Fridirickshall  and  Christiania,  be  sure  to  see  the 
falls  of  the  Glomm  at  Haslun.  Mr.  Rosencrantz,  of  Haslun,  is  the 
most  gentleman-like  man  in  Norway.  From  Christiania  to  Stock- 
holm, by  Kongswinger,  Carlstadt,  Orebro,  Upsala,  &c.  the  way 
is  excellent  and  interesting.  From  Stockholm  you  want  no  advice 
in  getting  either  to  Petersburg  or  Memel.  I  am  inclined  to  think  " 
it  is  yoiu-  best  plan  to  make  sure  of  Petersburg  first.  If  you  think 
proper  to  go  to  the  army,  you  will,  of  course,  change  your  track, 
and  proportion  the  length  of  your  tour  according  to  the  time  you 
stay  there.  If  you  proceed  southwards  your  way  mil  be  by  Kiof, 
where  are  the  catacombs,  Human,  a  Tartar  village,  where  Count 
Potolski  has  a  park,  and  Tulchyn,  the  palace  of  the  Potolskis,  where 
is  a  good  Nemetskoy  tractrie.  At  Tulchyn  you  will  get  Jews' 
horses  to  take  you  across  the  steppe  to  Odessa.  I  am  sorry  I  do 
not  exactly  remember  what  we  paid ;  but  I  think  twenty  rubles  for 
four  horses.  At  Odessa,  after  the  Due  de  Richelieu,  and  the  Comtes 


326  DIFFERENT  ROUTES  THROUGH  SWEDEN,  NORWAY,  &c. 

(HAP.  de  Rochfort,  his  nephews,  the  principal  people  are  General  Cobley, 
'»"«■  an  Englishman,  Mr.  Fortgegger,  a  German  merchant,  and  Mr.  Sea- 
son, an  Englishman.  The  Duke's  acquaintance,  and  letters  of  intro- 
duction will  be  indispensably  necessary  to  you  on  your  further 
progress ;  and  while  with  the  anny  you  had  better  move  every 
spring  to  get  letters  from  Platof  to  the  Cossaks.  From  Odessa  to 
Caffa,  you  will  find  an  itinerary  in  Guthrie's  journey.  At  Nicolaef 
you  must  get  introduced  to  Admiral  Priestman,  who  is  a  great 
curiosity,  and  the  best  natured  man  in  the  world  ;  the  place  is  like- 
wise very  interesting.  He  will  be  able  to  give  you  good  introduc- 
tions to  Cherson,  where  you  must  not  forget  Howard's  tomb. 
On  your  arrival  at  Akmetchet  (Simpheropol)  you  must  apply  to  the 
governor  for  a  firman,  addressed  to  the  Tartars,  to  furnish  you  with 
horses  ;  you  pay  them  two  copeks  a  mile  per  horse,  the  third 
copek  not  being  collected  among  the  mountains,  as  there  is  no  post. 
Be  sure  that  you  explain  very  clearly  that  you  want  a  firman  to 
carry  you  across  the  mountains  from  Sebastopol  to  Theodosia, 
(Kaffa)  as  otherwise  the  Russian  secretary  will  doubtless  blunder. 

•'  Either  here  or  at  Sebastopol  you  must  get  an  interpreter, 
and  mind  that  he  is  an  able-bodied  one.  Make  it,  however,  a  rule 
to  pay  for  horses,  &c.  yourselves,  or  the  interpreter  will  cheat 
both  the  poor  Tartars  and  yourself.  You  will  here  make  up  your 
mind  as  to  your  way  back  ;  if  the  season  is  at  all  advanced,  I  would 
dissuade  you  from  going  on  across  the  Bosphorus  by  Taman, 
Ecatherinodar,  Mosdon,  &c,  to  Astrachan.  If  then  you  make  up 
your  mind  to  return  the  shortest  way  to  Moscow,  you  need  only 
leave  your  carriage  at  Akmetchet  till  your  return.  The  tractrie 
is  very  wretched;  but  there  are,  if  I  remember  right,  stables  where 
a  carriage  could  be  left  in  safety.  By  this  arrangement  you  will 
keep  your  European  servant  with  you  all  the  time,  which  is  a 
great  luxury. 

"  The  country  gradually  improves  in  beauty  all  the  way  to 
Batchiserai.  At  this  place  there  is  a  miserable  inn,  where,  how- 
ever, one  may  make  a  decent  shift,  both  in  eating  and  sleeping. 
The  palace,  the  Jews'  rock,  and  the  town  will  occupy  your  atten- 


DIFFERENT  ROLTTES  THROUGH  SWEDEN,  NORWAY,  &c.  307 


tion  at  least  one  day.  At  Sebastopol  is  a  most  execrable  ale-house  chai'. 
kept  by  an  Italian,  which  is,  however,  the  best  in  the  place,  isoc. 
The  people  you  ought  to  know  here  are  Genei-al  Bardakof,  one 
of  the  cleverest  fellows  in  the  empire,  and  Messer,  an  English 
post-captain  ;  there  is  also  Prince  Wiasemsky,  a  relation  of  our  old 
friend  at  Petersburg.  Do  not  omit  to  see  Inkerman  and  Cherso- 
nesus;  for  your  journey  over  the  mountains  few  directions  are 
necessary  ;  you  already  know  the  itinerary ;  and  it  is  endless  to 
expatiate  on  every  particular  beauty  you  will  meet  with.  Shun 
all  Russians,  Greeks,  Jews,  and  Armenians,  as  you  detest  roguery 
and  filth.  The  only  houses  where  comfort  is  to  be  expected  are 
those  of  the  Mahomedans.  I  need  not,  however,  tell  you  to  be 
very  careful  not  to  shock  their  prejudices  about  women  and  dogs  ; 
take  no  dogs  with  you  on  your  tour  among  them,  as  they  Avill  not 
allow  you  to  bring  one  into  a  house  ;  and  if  you  leave  him  out  of 
doors  he  will  be  worried  before  morning  by  their  own  dogs,  who 
always  ramble  at  night.  The  Comte  de  Rochfort  told  me  that 
in  tliis  point,  and  in  their  jealousy,  the  Tartars  go  even  beyond  the 
Turks. 

"  The  two  finest  situations  during  your  tour,  are  Partenak 
and  Halinkha  ;  above  Kutchuk-Lambat  is  the  best  point,  I  under- 
stand, to  ascend  Chatyr-Dagh ;  if  you  have  time  it  will  probably 
repay  you.  At  Sudak  Pallas  has  a  cottage.  At  Staro  Krim  are 
many  remarkable  ruins,  which  are,  indeed,  scattered  all  over  the 
country.  The  most  famous  are  at  Balaclava  and  Aliuschta.  At 
CafTa  is  a  miserable  inn  kept  by  a  decent  intelligent  German. 
You  will  do  well  to  pass  some  days  here,  where  you  may  hire 
horses,  and  make  an  exciu-sion  on  the  hills.  South-west  of  the 
town  are  noble  views  of  rock  and  sea.  The  governor  of  Caffa  is 
General  Fanshaw,  an  Englishman  of  a  west-country  flimily  ;  he  was 
not  there  when  we  were ;  the  second  in  command  is  a  Baron 
Rosenberg.  From  CafFa  you  may  return  to  Akmetchet,  Karasu- 
bazar,  the  second  town  in  the  Crimea ;  take  care  to  visit  the 
source  of  the  Karasu  or  Black  River.  From  Akmetchet,  where 
you  will  again  take  to  your  carriage  ;  your  way  lies  through  Perekop 


.■}-28  DIFFERENT  ROUTES  THROUGH  SWEDEN,  NORWAY,  &c. 

CHAP,  and  the  Nogayan  steppe  to  Pultova.  You  will  observe  by  the 
180C.  •yyay  the  singular  features  of  the  Nogays,  their  moveable  tents  and 
dromedaries,  though  you  will  meet  but  few  of  them  unless,  for  the 
sake  of  seeing  their  manners,  you  diverge  a  little  to  the  east. 
From  Pultova  you  go  to  Charkof,  where  is  a  university,  lately 
founded  and  plentifully  stocked  with  French  and  German  pro- 
fessors. The  ablest  among  them  is  Bellin  de  Ballu,  a  Frenchman, 
and  a  consummate  Greek  scholar.  The  governor,  Baktyn,  is  a 
very  intelligent  man,  a  great  friend  of  General  Bentham,  from  whom 
you  had  better  get  a  letter  while  you  are  at  Petersburg.  You  will 
find  it  well  worth  yom*  while  to  attend  to  the  dissimilarity  of 
manners,  dress,  &c.  between  Malo-Russia  and  Muscovy.  There 
is  a  very  good  history  of  Malo-Russia  by  Benoit  de  Scherer, 
the  French  consul  at  Petersburg,  in  which  you  have  also  the  best 
accounts  of  the  Cossaks.  Koursk  and  Orel  present  little  worthy 
of  notice  except  their  situations,  which  are  striking.  Tula  has  its 
manufactory  of  arms,  and  is  indeed  a  very  curious  town  ;  at  all 
these  places  are  Nemetskoy  tractries,  and  you  may  always  find  a 
German  apothecary,  who  will  tell  you  as  much  as  he  knows,  or 
more. 

"  At  Moscow,  repau-  immediately  to  the  Hotel  de  Lyons  in  the 
Tverskoy.  The  pleasantest  family  in  Moscow  is  that  of  the  Pousch- 
kins,  and  the  most  splendid  house  is  that  of  Prince  Paul  Volkons- 
koy.  The  tour  I  have  now  chalked  out  for  you  is  certainly  very 
practicable  before  winter ;  if  you  should,  when  in  the  Crimea,  find 
yourself  disposed  to  go  on  to  the  Cuban  and  Astrachan,  the  follow- 
ing will  be  your  road  : 

"  Instead  of  leaving  your  carriage  at  Simpheropol,  send 
your  German  servant  with  it  to  meet  you  at  Caffa,  when  you 
emerge  from  the  mountains.  Hire  horses  at  Caffa  to  take  you  to 
Yenicale,  about  eighty  or  ninety  miles,  all  of  desert.  You  pass 
by  Kertch,  a  small  town  with  a  garrison  and  some  curious  remains 
of  the  ancient  Greeks.  A  large  barrow  near  it  is  pointed  out  by 
tradition  as  the  tomb  of  Mithridates.  There  is  a  regular  comnui- 
nication  between  Yanicale  and  Taman  (Phanagoria).     At  this  latter 


ROUTES  THROUGH  RUSSIA.  309 

place  you  had  better  lodge  with  the  attaman's  deputy,  a  very  ciivr. 
intelligent  civil  man,  who  has  the  best  house  in  the  place,  con-  isoc. 
sisting  of  two  rooms,  in  one  of  which  there  is  space  enough  for 
a  bed  to  stand.  He  and  his  wife,  (daughter  of  the  parish  priest, 
who  has  got  our  names  and  titles  at  full  length,)  occupy  the  other. 
Your  host  can  find  you  horses,  and  is  himself  an  excellent  cice- 
rone, being  a  fine  spirited  young  fellow.  He  must  take  you  to  the 
'  mud  volcano,'  as  Pallas  calls  it,  and  to  the  Circassian  village  of 
Sultan  Selim  Gerai.  At  Taraan  are  also  some  antiquities  ;  one 
stone  is  said  to  be  votive  to  the  Kparspoig  kul  i(7xi'poi£  Osoig  Aamp- 
\i£  Kai  AarapXewpi — who  these  gods  are,  I  could  not  make  out, 
and  quote,  indeed,  their  names  from  memory.  There  is  also  a 
very  famous  stone  there  with  a  Slavonic  inscription,  which  ascer- 
tains the  site  of  the  ancient  Tmutaracan,  the  cradle  of  the  Rus- 
sians, as  Azoph  (Asgard)  is  supposed  to  be  of  the  Scandinavians. 
Many  very  curious  pieces  of  information  might,  I  believe,  be  picked 
up  in  this  district ;  but  there  is  nobody  who  speaks  either  English, 
French  or  German ;  and  even  their  Russian  is  barbarous  and 
unintelligible.  In  order  to  obtain  hoi'ses  for  your  farther  progress, 
you  must  have  come  to  Taman  provided  with  letters  for  the  atta- 
man  of  the  place,  and  for  his  superior  at  Ecatherinador,  which  is 
the  capital  of  the  Zaporogi ;  you  will  otherwise  not  have  an  escort, 
which  is  necessary  after  leaving  Teim-ook,  the  third  stage  from 
Phanagoria.  At  the  second  stage  are  some  curious  vaults  of  high 
antiquity ;  and  on  the  way  you  pass  a  ruined  Turkish  fortress. 
In  this  Asiatic  journey  you  must  make  up  your  mind  to  live  hardly, 
and  to  sleep  in  your  carriage ;  but  this  will  be  no  novelty  to  a 
traveller  who  has  passed  through  the  steppes  of  New  Russia.  At 
Ecatherinodar  you  may  acquire  much  information  from  M.  Con- 
stantinof,  the  dii-ector  of  the  quarantine,  and  of  the  market  at  the 
barrier,  a  man  who  is  intimately  acquainted  with  the  Circassian 
manners  ;  but,  alas,  he  speaks  nothing  but  Russian.  I  had  forgot 
to  say,  that  it  was  in  the  stage  beyond  Temrook  where  we  saw  the 
Circassian  Sultan  prisoner,  and  where  we  had  our  guards  doubled. 
VOL.  I.  u  u 


:5:30  ROUTES  THROUGH  RUSSIA. 


CHAP.    All  this  way,  if  you  are  good  shots,  you  may  supply  yourselves 
'"o«      with  venison  and  bustards. 

"  From  Ecatherinodar  is  a  post  across  the  desert  to  Tcherkask 
and  Azoph ;  but,  if  possible,  I  would  recommend  your  proceeding 
straight  to  Georgiessk ;  there  is  no  post,  but  horses  are  doubtless 
easily  to  be  hired  to  go  the  whole  distance ;  and  though  the  road 
is  dangerous,  a  good  recommendation  to  the  attaman  will  procure 
you  a  sufficient  escort.  Near  Georgiessk  is  a  colony  of  Scotch, 
who  are  established  as  missionaries,  and  who  will  give  you  the 
best  information  about  the  neighbouring  Circassians,  The  town, 
though  the  capital  of  the  province  of  Caucasus,  is  very  small  and 
miserable.  From  thence  is  a  good  post-road  to  Tcherkask.  As  I 
have  not  my  books  or  papers  to  refer  to,  I  cannot  recollect  any  of 
these  distances  ;  but  you  will  find  them  all  in  the  common  little 
road-books  which  you  buy  at  Petersburg,  and  which  are  absolutely 
necessary  for  a  traveller  in  Russia. 

"  From  Tcherkask  to  Astrachan,  and  thence  to  Moscow,  I 
can  give  you  but  very  little  information.  At  the  latter  end  of  the 
summer  the  hordes  of  Calmuks  are  often  attracted  westward  by 
the  commerce  of  Taganrog ;  so  that  you  will  have  an  excellent 
opportunity  of  paying  them  a  visit  from  Tcherkask.  They  are 
also  always  to  be  met  with  in  the  neighbourhood  of  Astrachan; 
the  best  account  of  them  is  to  be  found  in  a  small  collection  of 
travels  in  Russia,  published  by  Pallas,  but  without  his  name.  It 
is  an  octavo,  in  French,  and  may  easily  be  got  at  Petersburg.  As 
most  of  the  Cossak  chiefs  are  probably  in  Poland,  your  society  at 
Tcherkask  will  be  confined  to  the  p-ocureur,  a  Pole,  and  the 
physician,  the  only  people  who  speak  any  thing  but  Russian. 

"  From  Tcherkask  to  Astrachan,  and  thence  to  Voronetz, 
where  are  enormous  tallow  manufactories,  little  interesting  can,  1 
suppose,  occur,  being  all  desert,  except  the  Moravian  settlement  at 
Sarepta.  If  your  journey  should  coincide  with  the  time  of  the 
great  fair  at  Orenburg,  I  could  almost  wish  you  to  proceed  there 
in  order  to  see  the  Khirgees,  the  most  interesting  of  all  the  Tar- 


ROUTES  THROUGH  RUSSIA.  331 

tars  ;  but  you  will  be,  probably,  weary  of  the  steppe,  which  has,     chap. 
certainly,  very  few  attractions.  i«oc- 

"  Pelicans  are  common  in  every  place  where  there  is  water  ; 
and  in  the  dryer  levels,  the  suslik,  and  the  famous  jerboa,  a  dimi- 
nutive kangaroo,  are  found,  as  well  as  a  few  wild  horses  of  a  sin- 
gular breed. 

"  If  you  wish  to  abandon  Astrachan,  and  to  return  straight  to 
Moscow,  your  best  way  from  Tcherkask  will  be  by  Rostof  and 
Nakitchivan,  a  town  of  Armenians,  which  is  very  interesting  ;  we 
had  letters  there  to  a  M.  Abraamof,  whose  little  boy  spoke 
French ;  there  is  also  a  French  master  in  the  fort  of  Rostof,  who 
may  serve  as  an  interpreter,  though  ])y  far  the  dirtiest  man  I  ever 
saw,  even  among  the  Calmuks  and  Laplanders.  There  is  a  con- 
siderable iron-foundry,  lately  conducted  by  Sir  Charles  Gascoigne, 
at  Lugan,  a  little  to  the  north  of  Rostof,  with  a  house  belonging  to 
him;  make  some  enquiries  about  the  coal,  which  is  found  in  this  dis- 
trict, and  whether  it  has  really  been  applied  to  the  use  of  the  forge. 
Taganrog,  in  itself  a  miserable  village,  is  interesting  during  the 
autumn  and  spring,  from  the  number  of  Greek  and  Turkish  vessels 
which  are  in  its  harbour ;  fi"om  its  trade  and  importance  it  is  a 
favourite  hobby-horse  of  the  governor's,  who  is  very  angry  at  the 
privileges  which  Caffa  has  obtained ;  he  is  a  Baron  von  Camper- 
hausen,  an  intelligent  and  hospitable  man.  From  Taganrog  you 
pass  over  the  steppe  to  Bakmuth,  a  miserable  town,  where,  how- 
ever, you  may  get  a  room,  and  recruit  your  stock  of  bread.  Through 
all  Russia  a  military  character  is  useful,  and  among  the  Cossaks 
necessary.  You  will  be  in  the  Crimea  and  the  hot  pestilential 
district  of  Cuban,  at  exactly  the  most  unhealthy  season ;  so  be 
cautious  of  fruit  and  greasy  food,  or  you  will  find  that  the  yellow 
fever,  or  something  very  like  it,  is  not  confined  to  the  West  Indies. 
Clarke  was  laid  up  for  three  months.  If  you  are  obliged  to  sleep 
in  the  open  air,  you  must  be  carefixl  to  cover  your  face  and  mouth ; 
a  gauze  curtain  to  your  carriage  will  be  no  bad  thing,  as  the  mus- 
quitos  are  very  tormenting  ;  but  this  you  may  get  any  where,  the 
head-dresses   of  the  women  and  their  veils  being  of  serpanlm. 

u  u  2 


33-2  ROUTES  TO  VIENNA. 

CHAP.  Pallas  recommended  us  to  wear  flannel ;  but  we  were  there  in  so 
'8"c-  healthy  a  season  that  we  did  not  find  it  necessary.  Only  Turkish 
money  passes  among  the  Tartars,  so  that  you  must  provide  yourself 
with  some  at  Simpheropol.  The  usluk,  the  largest  silver  coin,  is 
worth  generally  120  copeks,  the  piaster  80 ;  the  small  money  are 
paras,  100  to  the  usluk. 

"  If  circumstances  should  induce  you  to  return  from  Russia 
by  Austria  instead  of  pursuing  the  course  I  have  mentioned,  you 
may  if  you  please  very  nearly  reverse  it,  and  go  to  the  south 
through  Moscow,  and  from  Odessa  cross  through  Moldavia,  a 
country  little  known  and  very  interesting,  into  the  Bukovina  and 
Gallicia ;  there  is  a  road  over  the  mountains  passable  for  carriages, 
as  I  was  assured  by  a  very  intelligent  Moldavian  consul  at  Vienna. 

"  If  you  prefer  the  straight  road  from  Moscow  to  Vienna, 
giving  up  the  south  entirely,  your  way  lies  through  Tula  and  Kiof 
to  Brody,  the  first  Austrian  town,  where,  though  it  is  only  a 
miserable  town,  full  of  Jews,  you  will  see  at  once  the  difference 
between  Russian  and  Austrian  government.  All  the  towns  in 
Poland  are,  indeed,  infinitely  better  than  in  Russia ;  even  in 
Russian  Poland  their  superiority  is  striking  over  the  Muscovites. 
Be  sure  to  get  both  your  Austrian  and  Russian  passports  correct,  as 
that  is  always  a  terrible  busmess  to  go  through.  To  assist  you  at 
the  Austrian  custom-house,  enquire  at  the  best  inn  '  Zum  Griinen 
Bauen,'  for  Alexander  the  Jew,  a  sort  of  privileged  rascal  who 
speaks  Enghsh,  and  will  for  a  couple  of  ducats  do  any  work  you 
please.  Lemberg,  the  capital  of  Gallicia,  is  a  fine  old  town,  and 
has  a  good  society  ;  the  best  hotel  is  the  hotel  de  Russie,  for  we 
are  now  again  in  the  land  of  '  gasthofFs.'  From  thence  you  may 
go  to  Vienna  through  Hungary,  or  by  the  usual  route.  Hungary 
in  fact  is  balanced  against  the  mines  of  Vialitzna ;  we  chose  the 
former.  You  will,  if  you  take  this  course,  pass  by  Przemisl, 
Bartpha,  where  are  muieral  waters  and  a  fashionable  bathing-place 
among  beautiful  hills,  Tokay,  Agria,  and  Buda.  At  Agria  is  a  famous 
university,  and  there  are  some  immense  ruins  of  Turkish  fortifica- 
tions ;  there  are  good  inns  in  almost  every  to^\Ti  in  Hungary.  From 


ROUTES  THROUGH  HUNGARY.  333 


Buda,  if  you  have  time,  fail  not  to  go  to  the  mines,  which  would,  chap. 
indeed,  fall  more  natm-ally  into  your  track  before ;  but  at  Buda  you  is*"^- 
may  get  useful  letters.  The  post  in  Hungary  is  very  bad;  the 
nobles  all  travel  with  peasants'  horses,  which  they  have  a  right  to 
levy  in  the  villages ;  this  is  called  Fiirspann.  It  is  a  privilege 
which  may  be  sometimes  obtained  for  strangers ;  but  our  recom- 
mendations were  few,  and  we  only  met  mth  one  really  very 
hospitable  man;  it  is  indeed  a  virtue  for  which  the  Hungarians 
are  not  famous.  Latin  is  your  best  passport  through  Hungary  ; 
German  is  not  much  understood,  and  the  people  hate  to  speak  it. 
Our  own  passage  through  the  kingdom  was,  unfortunately,  very 
rapid,  as  Thornton  was  so  ill  that  I  wished  much  to  hurry  him  to 
Vienna,  as  we  had  no  confidence  in  the  practitioners  of  the 
country,  one  of  whom  nearly  killed  him.  Your  road  fi'om  Buda 
to  Vienna  passes  by  Gran  (Strigonium)  and  Presburg,  where  you 
will,  of  course,  see  the  castle. 

"  I  have  now,  I  tliink,  told  you  pretty  nearly  all  the  Kleinig- 
lieiten,  of  which  you  will  have  occasion,  go  which  way  you  will ;  if 
affairs  keep  quiet  in  Turkey  you  perhaps  will  take  none  of  these 
tracts. 

"  Wherever  you  go,  however,  I  wish  you  much  pleasure  and 
a  prosperous  journey.  I  shall  be  most  happy  if  any  of  these  hints 
are  useful.  I  wish  they  were  more  numerous,  but  having  none  of 
my  journals  to  refer  to,  or  any  other  memoranda,  I  am  obliged  to 
write  entirely  from  memory,  and  you  must  not  wonder  if  you  find 
omissions  and  mistakes.     God  bless  you  ! 

"  Reginald  Heber." 

The  follomng  letter  from  Sir  J.  M.  Riddell  to  the  editor, 
although  written  in  1828,  refers  to  this  period. 

"  I  had  the  happiness  to  be  the  contemporary  of  Sir  Thomas 
Acland  and  Sir  Robert  Inglis,  at  Christ  Church,  during  the  period 
when  our  dear  and  lamented  friend  was  enjoying  his  academical 


■>,:ii  TRANSLATION  OF  A  GERMAN  POEM. 


ciiAi'     honours  ;  and  to  them,  principally,  I  was  indebted  for  being  made 

'«»"      known  to  him. 

"  Happening  to  call  upon  me,  if  I  remember  rightly,  soon 
after  his  return  from  his  Russian  tour,  some  books  just  arrived  lay 
upon  my  table,  folded  up  in  a  sheet  of  printed  paper :  upon  look- 
ing at  it,  the  bishop  found  that  it  contained  some  light  pieces  of 
German  poetry.  In  giving  it  to  him,  at  his  desire,  I  made  the 
condition  that  he  would  send  me  a  translation.  In  the  course  of 
a  few  hours  I  received  the  enclosed  note.  I  have  preserved  it,  in 
remembrance  of  one  whose  acquaintance,  and,  I  hope  I  may  be 
permitted  to  add,  without  presumption,  whose  friendship,  I  have 
always  esteemed  as  high  privileges. 

Take  here  the  tender  harp  again 

0  Muse,  that  thou  hast  lent  to  me ; 
I  wake  no  more  the  glowing  strain. 

To  youthful  wit  and  social  glee. 

Forgive  the  cold  and  sickly  tone 

lliat  could  so  ill  my  love  express ; 
Wliat  most  I  felt  I  dared  not  own. 

And  chose  my  theme  from  idleness. 

Oft,  while  I  told  of  peace  and  pleasure, 

1  mark'd  the  hostile  sabres  shine  ; 
And  water,  doled  in  scanty  measure, 

I  drank,  who  wont  to  sing  of  wine. 

Would  peace,  woidd  love's  auspicious  fire, 

But  gild  at  last  my  closing  day, — 
Then,  goddess,  then  return  the  lyre, 

To  wake,  perhaps,  a  warmer  lay. 

"  Dear  Sir  James, 

"  I  send  you  the  above  specimen  of  the  fragments 
you  have  given  me ;  I  have  chosen  it  as  one  of  the  best  and 
shortest  among  them.  The  author  seems  to  have  been  poor,  and 
a  prisoner  of  war. 


INDUCTION  TO  THE  LIVING  OF  HODNET.  S:i5 

"  Wishing  you  a  good  journey  for  your  sake,  and  a  speedy    '  "ap. 
return  for  my  own,  '""<• 

"  Believe  me,  your's  truly, 

"  Reginald  Heber." 

In  1807  Mr.  Reginald  Heber  took  orders,  and  was  instituted 
by  his  brother  to  the  family  living  of  Hodnet  in  Shropshire,  soon 
after  which  he  returned  to  Oxford,  to  take  his  degree  as  Master  of 
Arts. 

To  John  Thornton,  Esq. 

O.iford,  1807. 
"  All  your  letters  give  me  pleasure  ;  but  none  so  much  as  those 
in  which  you  describe  your  own  happiness.  I  trust  that  it  will  be 
now  increasing  daily,  and  that  your  affection  will  continue  as  lasting 
as  I  believe  it  to  be  pure  and  rational.  I  trust,  too,  that  amid  your 
feelings  of  happiness,  feelings  of  gratitude  will  always  keep  a  place, 
united  with  a  sense  of  your  total  dependence  on  the  Hand  which 
has  given  so  largely  to  you,  and  which  may,  even  now,  in  a  mo- 
ment deprive  you  of  all  you  value  most.  The  season  of  great 
prosperity  is  very  seldom  favourable  to  serious  impressions  ;  fortu- 
nate for  us  if  it  were  possible,  when  we  are  most  sensible  of  the 
value  of  a  beloved  object,  to  recollect  the  probability  of  that  very 
blessing  being  immediately  taken  away.  The  more  pain  the  idea 
gives,  the  more  reason  we  have  to  examine  and  amend  our  hearts, 
lest  we  impose  a  necessity  on  Divine  Mercy  to  take  away  from  His 
thoughtless  children,  the  blessing  they  are  perverting  to  their  own 
destruction.  You,  my  friend,  have  often  told  me  how  uniformly 
happy  your  life  has  hitherto  been ;  may  it  long  continue  so,  and 
may  yovu*  heart  continue  such  as  not  to  need  any  terrible  visitation. 
To  you  I  can  write  thus  without  your  suspecting  me  of  hypocrisy, 
or  a  fondness  for  giving  lectures  ;  thoughtless  and  thankless  as  I 
am  myself,  inattentive  as  my  conduct  is  to  my  own  welfare,  I  am 
not  indifferent  or  careless  about  yours,  and,  indeed,  we  often  reap 
advantage  ourselves  from  talking  or  writing  seriously  to  others. 

7 


3:36  REMARKS  ON  CALVIN  AND  ST.  AUGUSTIN. 


CHAP.  "  Nor  will  this  perfect  recollection  of  your  dependence,  this 

im-  uniting  always  to  the  idea  of  your  most  beloved  object,  the  idea 
of  the  Giver,  at  all  produce  that  cold-blooded  indifference  which 
Pascal  cants  about ;  you  will  not  love  the  creature  less,  but  you 
will  love  the  Creator  more.  Far  from  such  unnatural  enthusiasm, 
the  more  devotion  we  feel  to  God,  the  warmer  I  should  think  will 
be  our  affections  to  those  with  whom  we  are  connected ;  we  shall 
love  them  for  God's  sake  as  well  as  for  their  own.  By  this  one  senti- 
ment our  warmest  feelings  become  hallowed ;  and  even  the  blessings 
of  this  world  may  be  a  source  of  religious  comfort.  From  the 
reflection  that  they  are  all  His  gifts,  every  enjoyment  will  receive 
a  higher  colouring,  and  the  more  happy  we  are,  the  more  earnestly 
we  shall  Ions;  for  an  admission  to  that  Heaven  where  we  shall  see 
the  Hand  which  blesses  us,  and  really  experience,  what  we  now 
know  but  faintly,  how  pleasant  it  is  to  be  thankful.  There  have 
been  moments,  I  am  ashamed  to  say  how  seldom,  when  my  heart 
has  burnt  within  me  with  the  conviction  which  I  have  just  described. 
You,  I  trust,  have  often  known  it,  and  probably  in  a  far  higher 
degree.     You  now,  if  ever,  ought  to  feel  it.  *  * 

"  With  regard  to  my  own  studies,  I  have,  as  usual,  but  a  lame 
account  to  give  ;  my  progress  is  very  inferior  to  my  resolutions  and 
hopes.  I  have,  however,  taken  to  regular  early  rising,  so  regular 
that  I  no  longer  find  it  difficult,  and  have  no  need  of  a  ^ne  box. 
The  Greek  Testament  always  occupies  my  morning.  But  I  have 
received  my  Crimea  sketches  from  home,  and  my  other  studies, 
Locke,  Cudworth,  &c.  have  a  little  given  way  to  my  Indian  ink. 
In  about  a  fortnight  I  hope  to  be  able  to  send  you  a  fresh  series 
of  drawings.  I  am  glad  almost  to  have  this  break  in  my  studies, 
as  I  was  beginning  to  perplex  myself  with  several  useless  doubts^ 
which  had  once  almost  frightened  me  from  taking  priest's  orders. 
The  more  I  read  of  the  Scriptures,  the  more  I  am  convinced  that 
John  Calvin,  and  his  master  St.  Augustin,  were  miserable  theolo- 
gians ;  but  I  hope  I  am  not  deceiving  myself  in  the  idea  that  I 
may  still  conscientiously  subscribe  to  the  articles,  which  may  well, 
I  think,  admit  an  Arminian  interpretation.     Episcopius  thought  so 


LETTER  TO  JOHN  THORNTON,  ESQ.  337 

even  of  the  rules  of  doctrine  in  Holland.     I  hope  I  am  not  wrong,     chap. 
I  had  no  doubts  of  this  sort  when  I  took  deacon's  orders ;  but  I      iso?- 
have  since  met  with  a  little  work,  by  a  man  whom  they  call  here 
an  '  Evangelical  preacher,'  (allow  me  still  to  dislike  this  use  of  the 
word,)  who  has  deduced  from  our  liturgy,   doctrines  enough  to 
frighten  one.     I  hope  and  trust  for  God's  guidance ;    pray  for  me, 
my  dear  friend,  that  I  may  have  my  eyes  open  to  the  truth  what- 
ever it  may  be ;  that  no  interest  may  warp  me  from  it ;  and  that  if 
it  pleases  God  that  I  persevere  in  His  ministry,  I  may  undertake 
the  charge  with  a  quiet  mind  and  good  conscience.     This  is  now 
my  purpose  ;  may  it  be  profitable  to  myself  and  to  many. 

"  Yours  most  truly, 

"  Reginald  Heber." 

To  John  Thornton,  Esq. 

All  Souls,  July  7, 1807. 

"  My  Dear  Friend, 

"  A  thousand  thanks  for  your  kind  letter,  which  (to 
use  the  expression  of  oiu*  old  friend  Bristow)  was  not  the  less 
welcome  for  bemg  really  unexpected.  I  hope  you  are  not  in 
earnest  when  you  pretend  to  apologize  for  writing  nonsense ; 
nonsense  is  the  true  and  appropriate  language  of  happiness ;  and  it 
is  a  kind  of  j3apj3apio-/to£  to  talk  coolly  in  a  situation  like  yours. 
But  though  perfectly  happy  yourself,  you  ought  not  to  run  restive 
and  kick  at  others  who  are  not  equally  so ;  and  it  is  rather  hard 
to  attack  our  poor  fliends  at  Yaroslav,  as  incapable  of  reasoning, 
and  subject  to  be  gSnSes.  I  do  not  think  you  are  much  inclined 
to  be  so ;  and,  at  any  rate,  one  month  after  marriage  is  not  the 
exact  date  when  I  should  suspect  such  a  visitor  as  ennui,  at  least 

after  such  a  marriage  as  yours.     As  to  the  Princess ,  if  you 

yourself  were  twenty  years  older  than  your  wife,  une  amitiS  parfaite 
is  almost  all  that  you  could  have  expected ;  where  ages  and,  in 
consequence,  where  the  shades  of  character  so  much  differ,  even 
this  share  of  happiness  is  more  than  common.     As  indeed  she 

VOL.  I.  XX 


:5.58  LETTER  TO  JOHN  THORNTON,  ESQ. 

CHAP,  defined  this  attachment,  '  amitie  imrfaite.>  sans  passion,'  I  am  not 
^i"*?!:,,  quite  sure  if  it  at  all  diflPers  from  that  placid  and  tamer  kind  of 
love,  which  we  are  told  arises  from  mutual  esteem  and  long  inter- 
course, almost  as  warm,  though  not  so  thrilling,  as  the  feelings  of 
romantic  love  before  he  has  moulted  his  wings,  and  unlearnt  all 
those  pretty  flutterings  which  make  his  youth  so  delightful.  All 
this  is  what  I  have  been  told,  and  I  state  it  fairly  on  better  autho- 
rity than  my  own,  as  a  sort  of  vindication  for  the  princess. 

"  For  myself,  I  o\mi,  though  I  sometimes  wish  this  statement 
were  true,  and  I  must  confess  it  to  be  a  very  respectable  kmd  of 
attachment,  and  attended  with  much  less  trouble  than  the  other, 
yet  I  have  not  yet  unlearnt  my  boyish  hankering  after  golden  shafts 
and  purple  wings.  The  shafts,  however,  never  fairly  struck  me 
but  once,  and  then  the  wings  were  unfortunately  employed  in 
flying  away.  To  speak,  however,  my  serious  opinion,  I  believe 
that  were  it  possible  for  a  well-founded  passion  to  wear  out,  the 
very  recollection  of  it  would  be  more  valuable  than  the  greatest 
happiness  afforded  by  those  calm  and  vulgar  kindnesses,  which 
chiefly  proceed  from  knowing  no  great  harm  of  one  another. 
You  remember  Shenstone's  epitaph  on  Miss  Dolman :  '  Vale 
Maria,  Puellarum  Elegantissima,  lieu  quanto  minus  est  cum 
reliquis  versari  quam  tui  meminisse.' 

"  I  am  not  sure  how  long  that  romance  of  passion  may  con- 
tinue which  the  world  shows  such  anxiety  to  wean  us  of  as  soon 
as  possible,  and  which  it  laughs  at,  because  it  envies ;  but  end 
when  it  may,  it  is  never  lost,  but  will  contribute,  like  fermentation, 
to  make  the  remainder  of  the  cup  of  happiness  more  pleasant  and 
wholesome. 

"  You  are  no  great  admirer  of  the  '  cherub  of  the  southern 
breeze,'  but  there  is  one  of  his  last  published  poems  which  took 
fast  hold  on  my  fancy.  After  having  instanced  all  the  changes 
which  time  may  produce  in  his  mistress,  and  denied  their  power 
to  alter  his  affection,  he  says, 

*  Tho'  the  rose  on  her  cheek  disappear  and  decay. 
Can  time  with  the  rose  steal  the  dimple  away  ? 

9 


LETTER  TO  JOHN  THORNTON,  ESQ.  iSi) 

Age  may  alter  lier  fonn,  but  must  leave  me  behind,  CHAP. 


Her  temper,  her  manners,  her  heart,  and  her  mind. 
Roll  on  then  ye  summers,  no  change  shall  ye  see. 
But  Maria  will  still  be  Maria  to  me.' 

"  May  you  long  enjoy  the  blessing  of  a  mutual  and  unchanging 
affection,  and  may  you  secure  your  enjoyment  by  a  constant 
dependance  on  the  Giver  of  all  happiness,  who  \\dll  never  forget 

those  in  age  who  remember  Him  in  their  youth. 

«  *  «  «  $ 

"  I  have  just  taken  leave  of  a  man  whom  I  think  most  highly 
of,  during  a  short  acquaintance ;  I  mean  Acland,  who  is,  I  trust, 
by  this  time  at  Gottenbm-g.  Wliat  part  of  the  north  are  you 
going  to  ?" 

To  John  Thornton,  Esq. 

All  Souls,  1807. 

"  I  am  sorry  for  the  trouble  my  carelessness  has  given  you, 
and  much  obliged  to  you  for  your  advice.  I  am,  indeed,  a  positive 
child  in  these  things.  My  reason  for  not  dating  my  draft  was 
simply  that  I  did  not  know  the  day  of  the  month.  When,  alas ! 
shall  I  be  able  to  remember  and  apply  the  deaths  of  those  eminent 
characters,  good  Christopher  Finch  and  David  Friar,  who,  with 
their  friend,  George  Blunt,  Esquire,  lamentably  for  themselves, 
but  most  usefully  for  practical  chronology,  died  in  one  day  at 
Dover  ?  It  is,  I  own,  the  want  of  a  distich  like  this  which  has 
puzzled  half  my  schemes  in  life ;  my  days  roll  on  uncounted,  and 
my  months  are  buried  in  oblivion, '  Carent  quia  vate  sacro.'  From 
you  I  have  learnt  many  things ;  if  you  can  but  teach  me  exactness, 
it  will  be  a  crown  to  all  your  instructions,  as  from  this  want,  even 
the  little  good  I  have  about  me  will  be  often,  I  fear,  inefficient." 


X. 

1807. 


X    X 


340  RECOLLECTIONS  OF  MB.  REGINALD  HEBER'S  EARLY  LIFE. 

To  R.  W.  Haij,  Esq. 


CHAP. 

X. 
1807. 


All  Souls,  1807. 
"  Ztim  Hoch-und  woJilgeboren  Herrn  von  Hay,  des  Colle- 
gium Christi  gradUalirtem  Studente,  des  Kais :  Russisch :  Ordens 
des  Bar  und  des  Schlusselhlume  Ritter,  Sfc.  Sfc.  Sfc. 

"  Komm  inein  Freund,  ich  bitte,  mit  mir  am  Montag  zu  speisen, 

Aber,  ich  muss  dir  sagen  dass  kein  ausliindisches  Essen 

Gebe  ich  dir ;  mit  Schinken-Geschmack  die  saiiere  Krauter, 

Nicht  die  herrUche  Fische,  die  koslbare  Suppe  des  Sterlet, 

Oder  mit  salzem  Butter  den  Barsch,  den  wasser-gekochten. 

Und,  ach,  leider  des  Armuths !  den  guten  vortrefBechen  Rheinwein 

Hier  bekommest  du  nicht  aus  griinen  Glaser  getnmken, 

Und  das  dickes  Bier,  was  liebt  der  durstige  Deutscher ! 

Hier  sind  bloss  Kartoffeln,  imd  nur  ein  gewaltiges  Beefsteak, 

Oder  ein  Schopsenbraten,  und  ein  paar  Kiichlein  mit  Zimge, 

Und  ein  Salat,  imd  Englisches  Bier,  und  Wasser  von  Schweppe, 

Und  Wallniisse  nach  Tisch,  mit  rotlilichem  Wein  von  Oporto. 

Also  bleib  ich  indessen, 

"  Mit  einer  wahren  Hochachtimg, 

"  Lieber  Herr  Hay, 

"  Euer  unterthanigster, 

"  Reginald  Heber. 

"  Die  Zeit  ist  halb  sechs — die  Local  meine  eigene  Stube." 

For  the  following  sketch  of  Mr.  Reginald  Heber's  life  at  Ox- 
ford, the  Editor  is  indebted  to  one  of  his  friends  and  contempora- 
ries, whose  name  she  regrets  not  being  permitted  to  mention. 

30t7i  January,  1830. 
"  My  Dear  Mrs.  Heber, 

"  I  promised  to  send  you  some  recollections  of 
his  early  life :  and  with  very  mixed  feelings  I  now  perform  that 
promise. 

"  At  a  time  when  with  the  enthusiasm  of  the  place,  I  had 
rather  caught  by  heart  than  learnt  Palestine,  and  when  it  was  a 
privilege  to  any  one  of  any  age  to  know  Reginald  Heber,  I  had  the 
delight  of  forming  his  acquaintance.     I  cannot  forget  the  feeling 


ROMAUNT  DU  GRAND  ROYE  PANTAGRUELLE.  341 

of  admiration  with  which,  in  the  autumn  of  1803,  I  approached  chap. 
his  presence,  or  the  surprise  with  which  I  contrasted  my  abstract  '^Q?- 
image  of  him,  with  his  own  simple,  social,  every-day  manner.  He 
talked  and  laughed  like  those  around  him,  and  entered  into  the 
pleasures  of  the  day  with  them,  and  with  their  relish  :  but  when 
any  higher  subject  was  introduced,  [and  he  was  never  slow  in  con- 
triving to  introduce  literature  at  least,  and  to  draw  from  his 
exhaustless  memory  riches  of  every  kind,]  his  manner  became  his 
own.  He  never  looked  up  at  his  hearers  (one  of  the  few  things,  by 
the  bye,  which  I  could  have  wished  altered  in  him  in  after  life,  for 
he  retained  the  habit,)  but  with  his  eyes  down-cast  and  fixed, 
poured  forth  in  a  measured  intonation,  which  from  him  became 
fashionable,  stores  of  every  age ;  the  old  romances ;  Spencer ; 
some  of  our  early  prose  writers ;  of  Scott's  published  works ;  or 
verses  of  his  own.  I  speak  not  of  one  day  only,  but  of  my  general 
recollection  of  his  habits  as  after  that  day  witnessed  often.  One 
moonlight  night  (I  do  not  recollect  the  year,)  we  were  walking 
together,  talking  of  the  old  fabliaux  and  romances,  with  which 
his  memory  was  full ;  and  we  continued  our  walk  till  long  past 
midnight.  He  said  that  it  was  a  very  easy  style,  and  he  could 
imitate  it  without  an  effort ;  and  as  he  went  along,  he  recited, 
composing  as  he  recited,  the  happiest  imitation  of  the  George- 
Ellis-specimens  which  I  ever  saw.  He  came  to  my  rooms,  and 
wrote  it  down  the  next  day.  He  called  it  '  The  Boke  of  the 
purple  faucon.'     I  now  send  the  original  manuscript  to  you. 

Icy  commence  le  Romamit  du  grand  Roye  Pantagruelle  '. 

Yt  is  a  kynge  both  fj-ne  and  felle. 
That  hyght  Sir  Claudyiis  Pantagruelle, — 
The  fynest  and  fellest,  more  or  lesse, 
Of  alle  the  kynges  in  Heathenesse. 
That  SjTe  was  Soudan  of  Surrye, 
Of  QLstrick  and  of  Cappadocie, 

'  A  few  years  later,  Mr.  Reginald  Heber  gave  a  copy  of  this  "  romaunt"  to  another  friend, 
under  a  different  title,  and  with  a  few  alterations,  which  consisted  principally  in  the  addition  of 
a  marginal  table  of  contents  ;  as  being  thus  made  a  more  perfect  imitation  of  the  old  romances, 
the  editor  publishes  it  in  preference  to  the  original  manuscript. 


342 


ROMAUNT  DU  GRAND  ROYE  PANTAGRUELLE. 


CHAP. 
X. 

1807. 

Le  Roy- 
aunie  de 
Pantagru- 
elle. 


Comment 
Pantagru- 
elle  tenayt 
bonne  ta- 
ble, et  fe- 
soyt  belle 
chere ; 

et  estoyt 
digne  roy. 


His  Erne  was  Lorde  I  understonde 
Of  all  Cathaye  and  of  BcEhman  Londe. 
LXX  Dukes,  that  were  soe  wighte, 
Served  him  by  dale  and  by  nighte. 
Thereto  he  made  him  a  lothely  masse, 
Everie  mominge  more  or  lesse, 
A  manne  chylde  of  VII  j-ere  age, 
Thereof  he  seethed  hys  pottage. 
Ererie  knyghte  who  went  that  waye 
His  nose  and  ears  was  fayne  to  paye ; 
Sothely,  as  the  Romaunts  telle, 
For  the  Dyner  of  Pantagmelle. 
Yn  all  the  londes  of  Ethiopee 
Was  ne  so  worthy  a  kynge  as  hee. 


Comment 
il  aimoyt  la 
Royne  Cy- 
cile. 


H  Ande  it  befelle  upon  a  daj^e 

Tliys  Pantagruelle  he  went  to  playe 
With  his  Eadye  thatte  was  soe  brighte, 
Yn  her  bowre  yn  alle  mennes  syghte. 
Thatte  Ladye  was  hyghte  Cycelee ; 
And  thereto  sange  shee 
Alle  into  Grekysh  as  she  colde  best, — 

"  Lambeth,  Sadeck,  Apocatest ;" 

Namely,  "  My  love  yf  thou  wouldest  wj'nne 
Bringe  wjlh  thee  a  purple  falcon  ynne." 


Comment 
Pantagru- 
elle estoyt 
niescon- 
tent. 


Ses  ar- 
mures. 


Li  graund 
macycien 
Virgile. 


U  Thatte  laye  made  hym  sadde  and  sowre, 
And  careful  came  hee  adowne  the  towTe. 
He  layde  his  hedde  upon  a  stone ; 
For  son-ow  hys  lyfe  was  well  nigh  gone ; 
He  sobbed  amayne  and  sighed  sore 

"  Alacke  Cycile,  for  eyermore." 

Hys  page  he  broughte  him  hj'S  helmette 

Thatte  was  cleped  Alphabet 

He  donned  hys  bootes  made  of  the  skyn 

Of  Loup-garou  and  of  Gobbelyn, 

And  hys  hauberke  that  was  soe  harde 

Ywoven  welle  of  spykenarde. 

Virgile  hadde  made  that  cote-armiu-e 

With  Mammetiy  fenced  and  guarded  siure ; 

And  Hypocras  and  Arystote 

Had  woven  the  rynges  of  thatte  cote. 

He  tooke  hys  spere  that  was  so  strong, 

Hys  axe  was  shai-pe,  his  sworde  was  long. 


ROMAUNT  DU  GRAND  ROYE  PANTAGRUELLE.  343 

And  thys  the  devyse  upon  his  sheilde —  CHAP. 

A  red  rose  yn  a  greene  fielde,  jgh". 

And  under,  yn  language  of  Syria,  ■  =^^= 

"  Belle  rose  que  tu  es  jolye." 

Ycy  commence  le  II  chant  du  bon  Roy  Pantagnielle. 

Lysten  Lordynges  to  the  tale 
Of  Pantagnielle  and  hys  travayle. 
He  through  many  a  lande  has  gone, 
Pantagruelle  hj'mself  alone ; 
Many  a  hyll  most  hyghe  has  dome. 
Many  a  broade  rivere  has  swome. 

He  paste  through  Cathaj-e  and  Picardie,  ses  Voy- 

Babylon,  Scotland,  and  Italic  ;  '^ses. 

And  asked  of  alle  as  yt  befelle, 
But  of  no  adventure  herde  he  telle, 
Tyl  after  manie  a  wearie  daye, 
Lyghtly  he  came  to  a  foreste  graye  : 
Manie  an  auncient  oke  dyd  growe, 
Doddered  and  frjTiged  •n-ith  mysletoe ; 
Manie  an  ashe  of  paly  hue 
Whyspered  yn  every  breeze  that  blewe. 

Pantagruelle  hath  swome  by  Mahoime,  Li  Ser- 

Bye  Termagaimt  and  by  Abadoune,  Panui^u- 

Bye  Venus,  thatte  was  soe  steme  and  stronge,  ♦'"e- 

And  Apollin  with  homes  longe, 
And  other  fiendes  of  Maumetrye, 
That  the  ende  of  that  foreste  he  would  see. 

Lysten  Lordinges  the  soothe  I  tell : 
NothjTig  was  true  that  here  befelle. 

But  all  the  okes  that  flourished  soe  free.  La  Forest 

Floiuished  only  in  grammarie  ;  enchanted. 

In  that  same  foreste  nothing  grewe 
But  broad  and  darke  the  boughes  of  yew. 
Sothely  I  tell  you  and  indede 
There  was  manj'  a  wicked  weede  ; 
Tliere  was  the  wolf-bane  greene  and  highe, 
Wlioso  smelleth  the  same  shall  die, 
And  the  long  grasse  wyth  poyson  mixed, 
Adders  coyled  and  hyssed  betwixt. 

Yn  thatte  same  chace  myghte  noe  man  hear 
Hunter  or  honi  or  houude  or  deer ; 


344 


ROMAUNT  DU  GRAND  ROYE  PANTAGRUELLE. 


CHAP. 
X. 

1807- 


Sa  misere. 


Neytlier  dared  yn  tliatte  wood  to  goe 
Coney  or  martin,  or  hai'e  or  doe. 
Nor  on  the  shawe  the  byrdes  gay, 
Starhng,  Cuckoo,  or  Popj-njay ; 
But  Gryphon  fanged,  and  bristly  boare, 
Gnarred  and  fomed  hys  wa.y  before. 
And  the  beeste  who  can  falsely  weepe, 
Crocodilus,  was  here  goode  cliepe  ; 
Satyr,  and  Leopard,  and  Tygiis, 
Bloody  Camelopardalys, 
And  everye  make  of  beastes  bolde. 
Nestled  and  roared  in  that  their  holde. 
Dayes  and  nyghtes  but  only  IV, 
And  PantagmeUe  could  ryde  no  more. 
Hys  shoulders  were  by  hys  helmet  wome. 
He  was  a  wearye  wyghte  forlome. 
And  hys  cheeke  thatte  was  soe  redde, 
Colde  and  darke  as  the  beaten  ledde. 
Hys  destriere  might  no  further  passe, 
It  lothed  to  taste  that  evyl  grasse. 
Heavy  he  clombe  from  ofTe  hys  steede, 
Of  hys  lyfe  he  stoode  in  drede  : 
"  Alacke,  alacke,  Cycelie, 
Here  I  dye  for  love  of  thee  !" 
Forth  through  the  thomy  brake  hee  paste, 
Tylle  he  came  to  a  poole  at  laste ; 
And  bye  that  poole  of  water  clere 
Satte  a  manne  chylde  of  seven  yere ; 
Clothed  he  was  in  scarlet  and  graine, 
Clotli  of  silver  and  cordovaine  ; 
As  a  field  flower  he  was  faii'e. 
Seemed  he  was  some  Erie's  heir. 
And  perchynge  on  hys  wriste  so  free, 
A  pm-ple  Faucon  there  was  to  see. 
Comteous  hee  tm-ned  hym  to  tliat  Peere, 
But  Pantagruelle  made  sory  cheare. 
Higlie  and  stately  that  boye  hym  bare. 
And  bade  hym  abyde  hys  Father  there. 
When  the  Fatlier  was  there  yn  place, 
Never  had  knyglit  so  foul  a  face ; 
He  was  tusked  as  anie  boare, 
Brystly  behind  and  eke  before  ; 
Lyons  staring  as  tliey  were  wood. 
Salvage  bull  that  livetli  on  blood. 


JEUX  D'ESPRIT.  345 

He  was  fylthy  as  any  sowe,  CHAP. 

Blacke  and  haiiy  as  a  black  cowe  ;  ^ 

All  yn  a  holy  priest's  attj-re,  === 

Never  was  scene  so  fowle  a  syre. 

***** 

"  He  wrote  what  none  but  quick  and  clever  men  can  write, 
very  good  nonsense  :  some  of  his  Jeux  d' esprit  appeared  in  the 
grave  pages  of  a  certain  ancient  magazine,  in  which  he  occa- 
sionally corresponded  with  himself,  keeping  himself  down  to  the 
dullness  of  his  model,  to  the  infinite  amusement  of  the  few  who 
were  in  the  secret.  One,  I  recollect,  was  a  solemn  inquiry  from 
Clericus  Leicestrensis,  into  the  remedy  for  the  devastations  of  an 
insect,  which  peculiarly  attacked  spinach, — the  evil,  the  remedy, 
and  the  insect  being  all  equally  imaginary.  Another  was  a  sonnet 
on  the  death  of  Lieutenant  Philip  V  *  *  who  was  killed  at  the 
storming  of  Fort  Muzzaboo,  on  the  St.  Lawrence,  (fort  and  war 
equally  unknown)  the  last  line  was 

'  And  Marathon  shall  yield  to  Muzzaboo.' 

Mr.  Gifford  once  assm-ed  me,  that  '  Mr.  Higgins,'  in  the  Antijacobin, 
deceived  one  person,  at  least,  who  seriously  complained  of  the  de- 
mocratical  tendencies  of  '  The  Rovers  :'  the  jeu  d' esprit  from 
which  the  last  line  is  quoted,  also  deceived  one  other ;  for  it  hap- 
pened, by  an  odd  coincidence,  that  there  had  been  missing  for  some 
years,  a  certain  Philip  V  *  *  whose  uncle  was  so  much  pleased 
with  discovering  the  scene  of  his  death,  and  with  this  glowing 
eidogium  from  a  witness  of  his  valour,  that  he  sent  five  pounds  to 
Mr.  Sylvanus  Urban,  for  the  author  of  the  sonnet. 

"  His  powers  of  imitation  and  of  humour  were  not  confined  to 
his  own  language.  Once,  as  Reginald  was  on  his  way  to  Oxford,  he 
stopped  at  the  Hen  and  Chickens,  at  Birmingham,  in  order  to  take 
a  coach  thence  on  the  following  morning.  There  happened  to  be 
in  the  inn  a  ball,  which  not  only  assembled  persons  from  a  distance, 
wlio  consequently  had  engaged  all  the  beds,  but  kept  up  such  a 

VOL.  I.  Y   y 


346  LINES  WRITTEN  AT  BIRMINGHAM. 

CHAP  noise  throughout  the  night,  that  he  could  scarcely  sleep  even  in 
1807.  his  sitting-room.  He  employed  and  amused  himself,  therefore,  in 
writing  in  Homeric  verse  a  description  of  his  situation :  aimexing 
a  translation  after  the  manner  of  Clarke,  and  subjoining  the  usual 
proportion  of  notes,  he  sent  it  to  Lord  Ebrington,  then  at  Brazen 
Nose  College,  who  kindly  gave  me  a  copy  ;  and  he  fully  permits 
you  to  insert  it.  It  shews  to  equal  advantage  Reginald's  scholar- 
ship and  his  humour. 


510.   Qi  TTOiroi  1)  ficya  nsvOog  6Sot7rop({)  iaaerai  avSpt, 

0(T7r£p  EVKTl/JitVOV  TTOT    iTTtpX'^H-^^^^  TTToXuOpOV, 

H  kXejvjjv  Adkiijv,  1/  BtXoTOva,  rj  Bptfiij^cifiov 
XaX)(oiroXiv,  (piXov  oikov  ayavopog   H(^a«Tro(o* 
Kat  TOTE  Sj)  jus-yaXrjv  eTrirridivovaiv  toprjiv 

Proh  Deos  !  certe  magnus  dolor  peregrino  erit  viro 
Quicunque  bene  habitatam  aUquando  adveniens  civitatem 
Aut  nobilem  Lyciam,  aut  Bilstonem,  aut  Bremichainum 
iEris-civitatem,  charam  domum  ob  virtutem-mirabilis  Vulcani. 
Et  tunc  quidem  magnum  cum-studio-parant  festum 

NoTa. 

V.  510.  'OSoiTTop^  avSpi.  Quis  foret  ille  peregrinus  non  adhuc  satis  constat.  Herculem 
Scholiastes,  Thesea  alii  intelligunt.  Non  animadvertere  scilicet  boni  interpretes  de 
seipso  Poetam  haec  loqui,  quern  Poetam  laspida  fuisse  Anglo-Phoenicem  ipse  supra 
demonstravi :  Excurs.  i.  v.  17.  hujus  libri.  Et  tamen  el.  Turnebo  Moses  his  versibus 
annui  videtur  :  quam  vere,  judicent  alii. 

V.  512.  Ubinam  sit  ilia  Lycia  milii  haeret  aqua.  Lyciam  Asiaticam  faciunt  vet.  Schol. 
absurde  :  de  Anglicanis  enim  civitatibus  agitur,  neque  TrroXudpov  ista  Lycia.  AevKriv 
Hemsterhusius  legit,  nullis  annuentibus  Codd.  Nescio  an  a  lupis  nomen  habens 
nunc  etiam  ore  vernaculari  Wolverhampton  audit.  De  Bilstone  et  Bremichamo  etiam 
in  celeberrimo  Jacobo  Thomsono  Bremicham  invenimus  : 

"  Thy  thund'ring  pavement,  Bremicham." 

V.  514.  Non  hospitale  (ut  videtur)  festum  paravere  Bremichamenses,  exclusum  enim  fuisse 
advenam  satis  constat.  Ergo  Bonae  Deae  tunc  agi  sacra  Clarkius  existimat,  falso, 
istiusmodi  enim  sacris  omnes  excludebantur  viri,  et  tamen  v.  518.  at'spcs  tvKovteyTte 
invenimus.  Ut  obscoenae  assent  istae  saltationes,  monente  Abrescio,  vix  crederem,  etsi 
nudis  mamUlis  exilique  veste  saltasse  puellas  ab  omnibus  fere  accepimus.  Talia 
vocant  festa  Galli  "  un  Bal  pare,"  anglice  "  9n  'Smtmhlv." 


LINES  WRITTEN  AT  BIRMINGHAM.  347 

515.  TcKTOi'te  avOpwTTOt,  fuya  Trkovatoi,  o«c  juaXa  nam  CHAP. 

XaX\ov  £V(  fitjapoiTi  S'top  tcai  xpvcrov  sSww"  j     ' 

Ev0'  apa  iravwxLOKn  ^opoiQ  repirovcTi  <j>tXov  icjjp  = 

Kovpai  ivZiovai  tc,  km  avfpfc  evKOvuvn^' 

2£((T/iOC  VWipOt  TToSwV  JlViTUl  JUEyaC,  £U  yop  fKaOTOC 

520.   Sicfpriy,  TToXX'  iiSiwv,  Kvi(T(Ti)  S'  iig  ovpavov  j'iksi' 

Ek  Ss  XupWV  X'^'""'  yXuKEpOV  /UeXoc,  T|£  (Tvpiyyiov. 
AXX'  6  st'i'OC  fvep^E  KaOtZeTai  a^yvfi^vog  KJjp 
Ai<pp(o  atdcfXiij)  kXiOeic,  keve);)  te  rpaTTE^^, 

XEtXscrtV  OVT    iTTl  StlTTVOV  E^WV,  OUr'  OfljUadlV  VTfVOV. 


Fabri  viri,  multum  divites,  quibus  valde  omnibus 

Ms  in  aedibus  Deus  (Vulcanus  sc.)  et  aurum  dedit 

Inde  ergo  per-totam-noctem-durantibus  choris  delectant  suuin  cor 

Virgines  bene-cinctse,  et  viri  pulchro-modo-pulverulenti. 

[Sc.  pnlverosum  habentes  caput. 
Motus  sub  pedibus  fit  magnus,  bene  vero  unusquisque 
Salit,  multum  sudans,  odor  vero  nidoris  ad  coelum  ascendit. 
Lyrarum  vero  effunditur  dulcis  sonus  aut  tibiarum — 
Advena  vero  infra  sedet  dolore-affectus  cor 
Sedili  ialionesto  reclinans,  vacuaque  mensa, 
Labris  neque  cibum  liabens,  nee  oculis  somniun,  &c. 

Not;e. 

V.  518.  ayeptg  evcoiiejtec.  De  Barbarico  capitis  ornatu  tantum  innotuit  ut  tritum  fortasse 
et  tenue  argumentum  videar  aggressus  ;  AXX'  ofiuie  eipritrtTai.  Noscantjunioresquod 
inter  plurimas  Barbaroriim  gentes  Hottentotas  sc.  et  Caffros  et  Anglos  mos  erat 
patrius  lardo,  nidore  ursaruni,  et  similibus,  collinere  crines,  et  deinde  albo  quodam 
pulvere  conspergere  et  conserere.  evKoyui'ris,  Gallice,  "  bien  poudre  :"  anglice, 
"  iatll  potuBcrtS." 

V.  522.  Non  in  infernis  regionibus,  ut  insomniavit  bonus  vir,  Editor  Glasguensis,  ut  inferiori 
camera,  pedibusque  saltantium  subjectd. 

V.  524.  Observandum  est  quam  mira  arte  Poeta  sui  viatoris  patrium  innuit  pudorem.  Si 
nempe  Scotus  fuisset  Hibernusve,  mirura  esset,  ne  innati  fretus  audacia,  angbce 
"  Spovttng  a  fact,"  ccenam  sibi,  et  gratis,  comparasset.  Cum  vero  et  Anglus  sit,  et 
ingenui  pudoris  puer,  manet  immotus  fiaivofievog  Trtp  dum  empto  tardoque  coquorum 
auxiHo  sibi  cibus  paratur.  De  Anglorum  modestia  vide  cL  Marklandum  in  hunc 
locum. 

"  Many  of  his  contemporaries  will  recollect  other  exercises  of 
kindred  talent ;  one  was  a  mock  heroic  poem,  the  subject  of  which 
was  laid  in  his  own  college  :  but  though  he  wished  to  forget  this 


348  RECOLLECTIONS  OF  MR.  REGINALD  HEBER'S  EARLY  LIFE. 

CHAP,  jeu  d' esprit,  as  it  gave  offence  at  the  time,  and  though,  therefore, 
1807-  I  do  not  send  it  to  you,  (how  few  can  look  back  on  their  youth, 
without  wishing  far  more  to  be  forgotten)  it  may  be  said  of  it,  as, 
indeed,  of  all  his  other  performances  in  this  line,  that  his  wit  was 
without  malice,  and  his  humour  without  a  tinge  of  grossness.  His 
sense  of  the  ridiculous  was  certainly  at  this  time  very  keen  ;  but  I 
never  heard  him  say  an  unkind  word ;  and  it  was  in  effusions  of 
this  sort  that  the  spirits  of  his  youth  found  vent.  Even  at  this 
time,  however,  he  was  a  very  severe  student ;  and  made  up  in 
hard  reading  at  night,  the  time  given  to  society  and  hghter  pursuits 
in  the  evening.  At  no  period  did  his  success,  unparalleled  then  and 
since  in  a  university  career,  tempt  him  to  the  assumption  of  any  airs 
of  superiority.     He  was  uniformly  humble,  and  gentle,  and  kind. 

"  Among  his  amusements  was  heraldry,  as  I  know,  because 
one  of  my  tastes  at  the  time  happened  to  coincide  with  it.  There 
is,  therefore,  at  least  one  proof  against  the  truth  of  the  sarcasm  of 
Grammont,  '  the  marquis  was  a  great  genealogist,  as  all  fools  with 
good  memories  are.'  His  younger  brother,  however,  Tom  Heber, 
was  one  who,  of  all  men  -within  my  knowledge,  possessed  the  most 
accurate  recollection  of  the  largest  stores  in  this  study. 

"  When  Reginald  Heber  and  I  ceased,  in  consequence  of  our 
distances,  to  meet  regularly,  our  intercourse  was  little  carried  on 
by  letters  ;  and  I  now  look  back  with  great  regret  upon  my  own  in- 
dolence, and  dislike  to  the  act  of  beginning  a  letter,  to  which  faults 
I  attribute  my  present  inability  to  send  to  you  more  of  his  corres- 
pondence. At  the  same  time  it  will  always  be  a  comfort  to  me 
to  think,  that  whenever  we  met,  we  met  as  friends  affectionately 
attached  to  each  other ;  and  when  we  parted,  carried  away  with 
each  other  a  renewed  and  enlarged  supply  of  the  kindest  feeling." 

To  John  Thornton,  Esq. 

August  7th,  1807. 

"  I  purposely  delayed  wi-iting  to  you  till  I  had  had  some  little 
experience  of  my  new  situation  as  parish  priest,  and  my  feelings 


METHODISTS.  349 

under  it.  With  the  first  I  have  every  reason  to  be  satisfied  ;  my  chap. 
feelings  are,  I  believe,  the  usual  ones  of  young  men  who  find  them-  i«n7- 
selves  entering  into  the  duties  of  a  profession,  in  which  their  life  is 
to  be  spent.  I  had  no  new  discoveries  to  make  in  the  character 
of  my  people,  as  I  had  passed  the  greater  part  of  my  life  among 
them.  They  received  me  with  the  same  expressions  of  good  will 
as  they  had  shown  on  my  return  to  England  ;  and  my  volun- 
teers and  myself  (for  we  are  still  considered  as  inseparable)  were 
again  invited  to  a  fete  champetre.  Of  course  my  first  sermon  was 
numerously  attended ;  and  though  tears  were  shed,  I  could  not 
attribute  them  entirely  to  my  eloquence,  for  some  of  the  old 
servants  of  the  family  began  crying  before  I  had  spoken  a  word. 
I  will  fairly  own  that  the  cordiality  of  these  honest  people,  which 
at  first  elated  and  pleased  me  exceedingly,  has  since  been  the 
occasion  of  some  very  serious  and  melancholy  reflections.  It  is 
really  an  appalling  thing  to  have  so  high  expectations  formed  of  a 
young  man's  future  conduct.  But  even  this  has  not  so  much 
weight  with  me,  as  a  fear  that  I  shall  not  return  their  affection 
sufficiently,  or  preserve  it  in  its  present  extent  by  my  exertions 
and  diligence  in  doing  good.  God  knows  I  have  every  motive  of 
affection  and  emulation  to  animate  me ;  and  have  no  possible 
excuse  for  a  failure  in  my  duty.  The  Methodists  in  Hodnet  are, 
thank  God,  not  very  numerous,  and  I  hope  to  diminish  them  still 
more ;  they  are,  however,  sufficiently  numerous  to  serve  as  a  spur 
to  my  emulation.  I  have  another  spur  of  a  much  more  agreeable 
kind  in  the  clergyman  of  the  next  parish,  a  nephew  of  Lord 
Stamford,  and  though  a  young  man,  one  of  the  best  parish  priests 
I  ever  knew.  He  was  intimate  with  Tom,  at  college,  and  I  then 
thought  highly  of  him  ;  but  his  character  has  displayed  itself  very 
much  during  this  last  year.     With   greater  learning  and   talent 

than ,   whom  I  mentioned  to  you,  he  puts  me  a  good  deal 

in  mind  of  him.  I  am  sure  I  may  derive  great  advantage  from 
such  an  example  as  *  *  *  within  two  miles ;  and  I  think  I,  too, 
may  be  of  some  little  use  to  him,  in  keeping  him  from  low  spirits 
and  a  too  great  love  of  retirement,  and  diffidence   of  his  own 


350  NORWEGIAN  MULTIBERRY. 

CHAP,    abilities,  faults  to  which  some  of  his  friends  think  him  inclined, 
1807.     but  which  I  have  not  seen  much  of  in  his  character." 


To  John  Thornton,  Esq. 

Hodnet  Hall,  1807. 

"  I  have  been  sadly  delayed  in  copying  the  drawings  ;  the  cos- 
tumes will,  I  hope,  be  finished  in  a  day  or  two,  and  I  will  send 
them.  I  had  hoped  to  have  brought  them  myself,  but  I  have  been 
so  little  with  my  mother,  that  she  will  not  yet  consent  to  spare  me ; 
and  my  visit  to  Albury  cannot  take  place  for  some  weeks.  Christ- 
mas I  had  hoped  to  have  passed  with  you ;  and  nothing  but  the 
particular  wishes  of  my  friends,  and  the  expectation  of  a  family 
party,  a  thing  which  cannot  be  said  to  have  taken  place  for  several 
years  at  Hodnet,  would  have  prevented  my  coming. 

"  A  thousand  thanks  for  your  care  about  the  books,  and  your 
present  of  the  Swedish  tuniip-seed,  the  promise  of  which  last  has 
already  conferred  more  happiness  on  a  respectable  magistrate  in 
our  neighbourhood,  than  any  other  boon  could  have  done.  I  am 
very  sorry,  however,  that  I  have  pillaged  your  father's  acres,  and 
heartily  wish  that  the  barren  heaths  of  Shropshire  contained  any 
thing  which  I  could  send  in  return.  We  have,  indeed,  as  I  have 
just  discovered,  the  Norwegian  multiherry,  which  is  here  known 
under  the  name  of  cloud-berry,  as  only  growing  on  the  wildest  hill- 
tops ;  but  I  fear  where  salad  and  currant  jelly  are  known,  the  veni- 
son and  mutton  of  Surry  would  not  relish  so  wild  an  auxiliary. 
When,  however,  you  come  to  see  me,  I  will  take  care  (with  my 
wife's  permission)  that  yoif  shall  begin  your  dinner  with  salt-fish, 
and  end  with  '  braten  and  multiherry' 

"  I  have  been  busy  in  recovering  and  copying  my  Norwegian 
views,  in  which  I  have  succeeded  better  than  I  at  first  hoped,  and 
shall  send  you  some  with  the  costumes. 

"  The  good  folks  in  this  neighbourhood  are  all  running  wild 
after  cole-rahi,  and  I  find  I  have  lost  much  influence  in  the  coun- 
ty by  not  bringing  a  sackful  of  Buda  hail. 


PUBLICATION  OF  "  EUROPE."  3oi 

"  You  will  be  glad  to  hear  that  I  shirk  volunteers,  shun  poli-    chap. 
tics,  eschew  architecture,  study  Divinity  as  employment,  and  draw      i809. 
costumes  for  recreation ;  and  you  will,  I  am  sure,  believe  how 
much  I  am  ever 

"  Your  obliged  friend." 

When  Mr.  Reginald  Heber  was  at  Dresden  in  the  summer 
of  1806,  he  wrote  the  first  lines  of  a  poem,  which  were  suggested 
to  him  during  a  sleepless  night,  by  hearing  the  beating  of  drums, 
and  the  bustle  of  troops  marching  tlu'ough  the  town  to  meet  the 
French  in  Lower  Saxony,  and  which,  in  1809,  he  completed  and 
published  under  the  title  of  "  Europe."  The  prophecy  with 
which  it  concludes  may  seem,  m  its  fullest  sense,  at  the  present 
moment,  far  fi-om  completion  ;  and  yet,  as  Spain  has  overcome  the 
efforts  of  foreign  tyranny,  we  may  hope  that,  at  no  very  remote 
period,  she  will  shake  off  the  still  more  galhng  yoke  of  superstition, 
and  that  we  may  yet  hail  the  period  when 

"  Spain,  the  brave,  the  virtuous,  shall  be  free  !" 
To  John  Thornton,  Esq. 

Hodnet  Hall,  Febniary  15th,  1809. 

"  You  will  be,  perhaps,  surprised  to  find  that,  after  so  long 
an  interruption,  I  have,  during  the  last  fortnight,  finished  and 
sent  to  the  press  the  verses,  part  of  which  I  repeated  to  you. 
Both  their  name,  '  Europe,'  and  the  moment  at  which  they  are 
published  is  an  unfortunate  one  ;  but  I  am  glad  that  while  Spain 
yet  exists,  I  shall  have  borne  my  testimony  in  her  favour.  *  *  * 
Wliile  I  am  on  this  subject,  will  you  allow  me  to  solicit  your  assist- 
ance in  procuiing  recruits  for  the  Quarterly  Review,  a  work  in 
wliich  several  of  our  common  friends  are  hkely  to  be  engaged,  and 
which  may  serve  to  set  some  hmits  to  the  despotic  authority  of  the 
Edinbm-gh.  I  have,  myself,  refused  to  undertake  giving  any  thing, 
but  very  likely  shall  hereafter,  if  I  have  time,  and  if  the  first  number 
gives  me  a  favovirable  specimen  of  their  calibre  and  opinions.     As 


352  PARISH  OF  HODNET. 

CHAP,  to  your  enquiries  respecting  my  parish,  I  hardly  know  what  answer 
1809.  to  make.  I  have  reason  to  beheve  that  both  my  conduct  and  my 
sermons  are  well  hked,  but  I  do  not  think  any  great  amendment 
takes  place  in  my  hearers.  My  congregations  are  very  good,  and 
the  number  of  communicants  increases.  The  principal  faults  of 
which  I  have  to  complain  are,  occasional  drunkenness,  and,  after 
they  have  left  Church,  a  great  disregard  of  Sunday.  You  know 
my  notions  respecting  the  obligation  of  the  Christian  Sabbath  are 
by  no  means  strict ;  but  I  have  seen  much  mischief  arise  from  its 
neglect,  and  have  been  taking  some  pains  to  prevent  it.  By  the 
assistance,  I  may  say  advice,  of  one  of  the  Churchwardens,  a  very 
worthy  and  sensible,  though  plain  farmer,  the  shop-keepers  have 
been  restrained  from  selling  on  Sundays ;  and  I  have  persuaded 
the  inn-keepers  to  sign  an  agreement,  binding  themselves  under  a 
five  guinea  forfeiture  not  to  allow  drinking  on  that  day.  But 
though  the  wealthy  farmers  and  women  are  generally  orderly,  the 
young  labourers  are  a  dissolute  set,  and  I  have  not  so  much  influ- 
ence with  them  now  as  I  had  when  I  was  their  captain.  It  is  a 
misfortune  to  me,  in  so  wide  a  parish,  that  I  am  slow  at  remem- 
bering either  names  or  faces,  which  is  a  very  useful  talent.  I 
trust,  however,  to  acquire  this  gradually.  My  Psalm-singing  con- 
tinues bad.  Can  you  tell  me  where  I  can  purchase  Cowper's 
Olney  hymns,  with  the  music,  and  in  a  smaller  size  without  the 
music,  to  put  in  the  seats  ?  Some  of  them  I  admire  much,  and 
any  novelty  is  likely  to  become  a  favourite,  and  draw  more  people 
to  join  in  the  singing.  What  book  is  used  at  the  Lock  ?  If  I 
could  get  one  or  two  I  should  like  to  select  fi-om  them.  The 
Methodists  are  neither  very  numerous  nor  very  active,  they  have 
no  regular  meetings,  but  assemble  from  great  distances  to  meet  a 
favourite  preacher.  Yet  I  have  sometimes  thought,  and  it  has 
made  me  really  vmcomfortable,  that  since  Rowland  Hill's  visit  to 
the  country,  my  congregation  was  thinner.  Perhaps  it  was  only 
o\ving  to  the  bad  weather,  as  my  numbers  are  now  a  little  increas- 
ing again.  The  test  here  of  a  Churchman  is  the  Sacrament,  which 
the  Methodists  never  attend. 


PARISH  OF  HODNET.  353 

"  The  Hills,  of  Hawkstone,  have  declared  their  intention  of    f'HAP. 

X. 

attending  Hodnet,  which  is  their  parish  Chtu*ch,  and  I  can  perceive      '"»7. 
this  will  do  a  great  deal  of  good.    Their  whole  family  live  together, 
and  they  are  very  pleasing  neighbours  to  us.     I  make  no  apology 
for  tliis  detail,  since  T  know  that  to  your  friendship  every  thing  is 
interesting  which  concerns  the  happiness  of 

"  Your's  affectionately, 

"  Reginald  Heber," 


VOL,  I,  z   z 


CHAPTER  XI. 


Mr.  Reginald  Heber's  marriage — Anecdote — Settles  on  his  living — His  charities — 
Remarks  on  "  Coelebs"  and  on  "  Zeal  without  innovation''' — Translation  of  an 
Ode  of  KlopstocWs — Revietv  of  Kerr  Porter^s  travels  in  Russia  —  Luther — 
darkens  travels — "  Cttrse  of  Kehama" — Odes  of  Pindat — Duke  of  Gloucester'' s 
installation — Prefatory  notice  to  the  Hymns  j)iiilished  in  the  Christian  Observer 
— Dictionary  of  the  Bible — "  Morte  d' Arthur'" — Poems — Illness,  and  removal 
to  Moreton. 


"■If-^-    In  April,  1809,   Mr.  Reginald  Heber  married  Amelia,  youngest 
"""^-      daughter  of  the  late  William  Davies  Shipley,  Dean  of  St.  Asaph, 

and  grand-daughter  of  the  late  Jonathan  Shipley,  Bishop  of  St. 

Asaph.     It  may  be  here  mentioned,  as  a  proof  of  the  value  he 

set  on  the  Holy  Scriptures,  that  the  first  present  which  he  ever 

made  her  was  a  Bible. 

7'o  JoJm  Thoimton,  Esq. 

Llanbedr,  near  Ruthin,  April  17,  1809. 

"  I  write  this  from  a  little  parsonage-house,  which  has  been 
kindly  lent  to  Emily  and  myself  for  the  first  week  of  our  marriage. 
The  ceremony,  which  we  hardly  expected  to  have  taken  place  till 
to-day,  was  performed  on  Friday,  and  we  came  here  the  same  even- 
ing. The  situation,  which  is  extremely  beautiful,  we  are  very  much 
precluded  from  enjoying  by  a  deep  fall  of  snow,  which  has  covered 
all  the  hills. 

"  Tell  Mrs.  J.  Thornton,  with  my  kindest  regards,  that  I  am 


SCENE  IN  WALES.  355 


now  become  a  competent  cicerone  for  the  whole  of  the  vales  of  chap. 
Clwyd  and  Llangollen,  and  shall  be  most  happy  to  show  them  to  '8c»- 
her  and  to  yon.  We  past  on  Friday  by  the  seat  of  her  ancestors, 
Llanrhaider,  which  is  one  of  the  most  beautiful  spots  I  ever  saw, 
more  like  a  situation  in  the  Crimea  than  in  Great  Britain.  It  lies 
in  the  narrow  part  of  the  vale  of  Clwyd,  with  a  beautiful  little 
river,  and  a  great  deal  of  wood ;  the  hills  round  it  were  all  co- 
vered with  snow,  and  the  whole  valley  with  apple-blossoms ;  as 
delightful  a  contrast  of  winter  and  spring  as  can  be  imagined. 
Where  we  are  at  present  the  winter  predominates." 

In  one  of  Mr.  Reginald  Heber's  journeys  into  Wales,  he  thus 
describes  to  a  friend  a  scene  he  witnessed : 

"  On  my  way  I  overtook  a  singular  specimen  of  love  in  a 
cottage.  A  drunken  fellow,  who  was  driving  two  asses  with  empty 
panniers,  boasted  to  my  servant  that  he  had  sold  a  cargo  of  earth- 
enware at  Wrexham,  and  hoped  to  be  able  to  get  through  the 
money  before  he  reached  Whitchurch,  where  his  wife  lived,  to 
whom,  he  observed,  he  should  be  loth  to  give  any  of  it.  He  in- 
tended being  three  days  on  the  road,  stopping  at  every  alehovise 
on  his  way.  To  guard  himself  from  the  expected  vengeance  of 
his  wife,  he  had  had  his  '  hair  clipped  to  prevent  lugging.'  I 
pitied  the  wife  and  the  asses ;  but  as  the  man  was  too  drunk  for 
advice,  I  heard  his  story  in  silence. 

"  I  baited  my  horses  at  Bangor  (the  monastic,  not  the  epis- 
copal). The  host  pressed  me  much  to  stay  there  half  an  hour 
longer,  when  I  should  have  an  opportunity  of  dining  like  a  prince, 

as and  some  farmers  were  going  to  do  above  stairs,  where  I 

might  be  sure  of  a  hospitable  welcome,  and  ale  as  strong  as  any 
drank  by  the  old  monks  whom  Ethelbert  slew." 

After  his  marriage  Mr.  Reginald  Heber  settled  on  his  rectory, 
and  entered,  at  first  unassisted,  on  the  cares  of  a  large  parish. 
His  first  act  was  to  extend  through  the  year  an  afternoon  sermon, 
which  had,  till  then,  been  confined  to  the  summer  months.     In 

z  z  2 


356  ANECDOTE. 


(HAP  order  to  devote  himself  more  entirely  to  the  discharge  of  his 
'"«"!'■  parochial  duties,  he,  in  a  great  measure,  withdrew  from  the  society 
of  that  world  by  which  he  was  courted,  (though  with  the  friends 
of  his  youth  he  kept  up  occasional  intercourse  and  frequent  corres- 
pondence) and  he  made  those  talents  which,  in  almost  every  sphere 
of  life,  would  have  raised  him  to  eminence,  subservient  to  the 
advancement  of  Christianity,  and  to  the  spiritual  and  temporal 
good  of  his  parishioners.  He  became,  indeed,  their  earthly  guide, 
their  pastor,  and  friend.  His  ear  was  never  shut  to  their  com- 
plaints, nor  his  hands  closed  to  their  wants.  Instead  of  hiding  his 
face  from  the  poor,  he  sought  out  distress  ;  he  made  it  a  rule,  from 
which  no  circumstances  induced  him  to  swerve,  to  "  give  to  all 
who  asked,"  however  trifling  the  sum ;  and  wherever  he  had  an 
opportunity,  he  never  failed  to  enquire  into,  and  more  effectually 
to  relieve  theu-  distress.  He  could  not  pass  a  sick  person,  or  a 
child  crying,  without  endeavouring  to  soothe  and  help  them,  and 
the  kindness  of  his  manner  always  rendered  his  gifts  doubly  valu- 
able. A  poor  clergyman  near  Hodnet,  had  written  a  poem  from 
which  he  expected  great  emolument.  Mr.  Reginald  Heber,  to 
whom  the  MS.  was  sent,  with  a  request  that  he  would  assist  in 
getting  it  tlu-ough  the  press,  saw  that  its  sale  would  never  repay 
the  expenses  of  publishing  it ;  he,  therefore,  sent  the  clergyman 
some  money ;  and  while  recommending  him  not  to  risk  so  great  a 
sum  as  the  printing  would  cost,  spoke  so  delicately  on  its  defi- 
ciencies, (having,  as  he  said,  a  feeling  for  a  brother  poet)  that  the 
poor  man  could  not  be  hurt  at  the  manner  in  which  the  ad^'^ce  was 
given. 

Mr.  Reginald  Heber  possessed,  in  its  fullest  acceptation,  that 
"  charity  which  hopeth  all  things."  He  not  only  discountenanced 
every  tendency  to  illiberal  or  illnatured  remarks,  but  had  always  a 
kind  and  charitable  construction  to  put  on  actions  which  might, 
perhaps  more  readily,  admit  of  a  different  interpretation ;  and 
when  the  misconduct  of  others  allowed  of  no  defence,  he  would 
leave  judgement  to  that  Being,  who  alone  "  knoweth  what  is  in 
the  heart  of  man." 


CHARITIES.  357 

In  his  charities  he  was  prodigal ;  on  himself  alone  he  bestowed  chap. 
Httle.  To  those  whose  modesty  or  rank  in  life  made  secrecy  an  'so"- 
object,  he  gave  with  delicacy  and  in  private  ;  and  to  use  the  words 
of  one  who  had  been  for  some  years  his  companion  and  assistant, 
and  whose  pastoral  care  the  people  of  Hodnet  still  feel  as  a  bless- 
ing, "  many  a  good  deed  done  by  him  in  secret,  only  came  to  light 
when  he  had  been  removed  far  away,  and,  but  for  that  removal 
would  have  been  for  ever  hid  ;  many  an  instance  of  benevolent 
interference  where  it  was  least  suspected,  and  of  delicate  attention 
towards  those  whose  humble  rank  in  life  is  too  often  thought  to 
exempt  then'  superiors  from  all  need  of  mingling  courtesy  with 
kindness."  The  same  feeling  prevented  his  keeping  any  person 
waitmg  who  came  to  speak  with  him.  When  summoned  from  his 
favourite  studies,  he  left  them  unreluctantly  to  attend  to  the 
business  of  others  ;  and  his  alacrity  increased  if  he  were  told  that 
a  poor  person  wanted  him ;  for  he  said  that  not  only  is  their 
time  valuable,  but  the  indigent  are  very  sensible  to  every  appear- 
ance of  neglect.  His  charities  would,  of  themselves,  have  pre- 
vented his  being  rich  in  worldly  goods  ;  but  he  had  another 
impediment  to  the  acquisition  of  riches,  an  indifference  as  to  his 
just  dues,  and  a  facility  in  resigning  them,  too  often  taken  advan- 
tage of  by  the  unworthy.  If  a  man  who  owed  him  money  could 
plead  inability  to  pay,  he  was  sure  to  be  excused  half,  and  some- 
times all  liis  debt.  In  the  words  of  the  writer  just  quoted,  "  the 
wisdom  of  the  serpent,  was  almost  the  only  wisdom  in  which  he 
did  not  abound."  When  money  was  not  wanting,  he  advised  and 
conversed  with  his  parishioners  with  such  cheerful  kindness,  and 
took  so  much  interest  in  their  concerns,  that  they  always  rejoiced 
to  meet  him,  and  hailed  with  joy  his  visits  to  their  houses. 

He  had  so  much  pleasure  in  conferring  kindness,  that  he  often 
declared  it  was  an  exceeding  indulgence  of  God  to  promise  a  re- 
ward for  what  carried  with  it  its  own  recompence.  He  considered 
himself  as  the  mere  steward  of  God's  bounty  ;  and  felt  that  in  shar- 
ing his  fortune  with  the  poor,  he  was  only  making  the  proper  use 
of  the  talents  committed  to  him,  without  any  consciousness  of 


:358  CHARITIES. 

CHAP,  merit.  Once,  when  a  poor  woman,  to  whom  he  had  given  three 
ia»»-  shilhngs,  exclaimed,  "  the  Lord  reward  you,  and  give  you  fourfold," 
he  said,  "  How  unreasonable  are  the  expectations  of  men !  This 
good  woman's  wish  for  me,  which  sounds  so  noble,  amounts  but  to 
twelve  shillings  ;  and  we,  when  we  give  such  a  pittance,  are  apt  to 
expect  Heaven  as  our  reward,  without  considering  how  miserable 
a  proportion  our  best-meant  actions  bear  to  the  eternal  recompence 
we  are  vain  enough  to  think  we  deserve !"  Thus,  surrounded  by 
his  family  ;  with  a  neighbourhood  containing  men  capable  of  appre- 
ciating his  talents ;  beloved  by  his  parishioners,  and  loving  all  about 
him  ;  silently,  but  beneficially,  flowed  on  the  first  years  of  his  mi- 
nistry, only  varied  by  occasional  visits  among  his  friends.  His 
letters  during  this  period  will  best  pourtray  his  feelings,  his  pur- 
suits, and  his  wishes. 

To  John  Thornton  Esq. 

Hodnet  Hall,  May  29th,  1809. 

"  I  hardly  know  with  what  face  to  begin  my  letter,  having  so 
long  neglected  to  answer  yours,  and  having  forgotten  not  only  my 
civility  to  you,  but  my  friendship  for  poor  Janicke.  The  fact  is,  I 
can  only  plead  the  various  engagements  of  brick  and  mortar,  wed- 
ding visits,  two  sermons  to  write  every  week,  and  the  whole  weekly 
duty  of  my  large  parish,  having  no  cvu-ate.  All  this  has  really  so 
occupied  and  harassed  me,  that  your  letter,  with  many  others,  had 
been  laid  by  and  forgotten.  Pray  send  poor  Janicke  five  guineas 
for  me,  or  more  if  you  think  the  occasion  requires  it ;  and  let  me 
know  how  much  you  have  sent,  in  your  next  letter. 

"  I  have  not  yet  got  into  my  old  parsonage,  as  much  more  was 
necessary  to  make  it  habitable  than  I  had  expected.  *  *  * 
Pray  mention,  when  you  write,  the  name  of  the  little  manual 
of  family  prayers  which  you  had  when  you  were  abroad,  as 
I  have  forgotten  it,  though  I  remember  well  their  merit  and 
simplicity.  I  prefer  forms  in  general  to  extempore  praying,  parti- 
cularly as  you  know  my  lips  are  rather  those  of  Moses  than  Aaron. 


REMARKS  ON  "  COELEBS,"  AND  "  ZEAL  WITHOUT  INNOVATION."  3o!» 

"  I  have  so  many  presents  to  thank  you  for  lately,  that  I  chap. 
hardly  know  where  to  begin  ;  the  first,  since  the  magnificent  can-  i»"»- 
dlesticks,  were  '  Coelebs,'  and '  Zeal  without  innovation.'  Ccelebs 
is  deservedly  popular  and  hkely  to  do  much  good,  though  not  so 
lively  as  I  expected ;  in  many  places,  indeed,  the  story  flags  sadly. 
The  other  I  have  read  through  with  great  attention,  and  can  join 
most  cordially  in  your  approbation  of  it ;  it  is  candid,  sensible,  and 
well  written,  and  shows  every  where  a  well-ordered  and  well-in- 
formed heart  and  head.  Is  Gisborne  the  author  ?  I  suspect  it 
strongly  from  many  circumstances  in  the  book  which  seem  likely 
to  come  from  him.  I  can  hardly  hope  that  he  will  receive  more 
than  the  attention  which  peacemakers  generally  obtain  ;  or  that  any 
great  reconciliation  can  take  place  between  the  parties  he  attempts 
to  soothe.  But  where  he  gives  advice  to  the  yoiniger  and  rising 
clergy,  and  points  out  the  regular  orderly  means  of  doing  good,  he 
has  a  less  thankless,  and  I  trust  will  have  a  successful  employment. 
To  many  well-disposed  young  men  who  feel  a  wish  to  do  good,  yet 
hardly  know  how  to  set  about  it,  his  book  will,  I  think,  be  very 
viseful.  I  cannot  say  he  has  much  decreased  my  dislike  of  the 
Evangelical  preachers,  considered  as  a  body.  Their  corporation 
sphit,  and  the  assumj^tion  of  Evangelical  as  a  party  title,  he  very 
properly  attacks  them  for;  though  he  omits  the  name  by  which 
they  are,  I  fear,  very  apt  to  distinguish  all  the  respectable  and 
religious  men  who  are  not  of  their  own  number, — I  mean  that  of 
'  formalists.'  On  the  whole,  if  he  obtains  but  a  small  number  of 
followers,  and  if  the  phalanx  of  party  is  weakened  on  either  side, 
he  will  have  conferred  a  great  benefit  on  religion,  have  made  many 
excellent  men  more  useful  than  they  are  at  present,  and  taken  away 
from  Messrs.  H. and  H. much  of  the  supposed  coun- 
tenance they  at  present  receive  from  many  who  differ  from  them 
in  almost  every  point  of  faith  or  conduct. 

"  Alas  for  Austria  !  Poor  Chasteller  !  I  trust  he  will  escape 
the  fangs  of  Buonaparte ;  indeed,  you  and  I  may  feel  interested 
about  him  fi'om  old  acquaintance,  and  in  memory  of  our  Baden 
parties. 


360  TRANSLATION  OF  AN  ODE  OF  KLOPSTOCK'S. 


CHAP.  "  My  parish  goes  on,  I  think  and  hope,  rather  on  the  mending 

1809-  hand,  particularly  in  respect  to  the  observance  of  Sunday ;  and, 
what  is  also  perceptible,  in  an  increasing  desire  to  have  comfort  and 
advice  from  me  when  they  are  sick,  which  was  chiefly  only  when 
they  were  at  extremity.  I  have  much  less  time  for  reading  than  I 
could  wish  ;  but  my  wife  always  encourages  me  to  dihgence." 

To  Mrs.  C.  L.  Shipley. 

Hod/iet  Rectory,  August  7,  1809. 
"  My  Dear  Madam, 

"  When  I  reflect  how  long  it  is  that  I  have  owed 
you  a  letter,  I  should  really  be  very  much  ashamed  if  this  silence 
were  not,  in  some  measure,  to  be  accounted  for  by  my  having  un- 
wittingly promised  to  do  my  best  at  rendering  into  English  the 
most  crabbed  piece  of  German  I  ever  met  with.  None  of  Merlin's 
fiends  ever  had  such  a  task  assigned  them  by  the  Lady  of  the 
Lake,  as  I  have  had  by  my  dear  aunt.  You  must  not  think  I 
have  forgotten  it ;  on  the  contrary,  it  has  occurred  to  me  continu- 
ally ;  and  I  was  stimulated  still  more  to  the  attempt  by  the  real 
beauty  of  the  lines,  and  by  Sotheby's  assertion,  that  they  were 
imtranslateahle.  I  could  easily  have  made  a  paraphrase,  which 
would  have  been  something  like  them  ;  but  I  did  not  consider  that 
as  performing  my  task.  At  last,  being  really  very  busy,  I  despaired 
to  bend  the  stubborn  pentametres  of  the  latter  part  into  any  thing 
like  English  verse  ;  and  felt  a  little  tired  at  the  repetition  of  the 
same  sentiment,  and  the  lady's  solicitude  to  outlive  her  husband, 
which,  though  it  is  really  beautiful,  would  be  no  bad  subject  for 
parody.  On  the  whole,  I  subscribe  to  Mr.  Sotheby's  assertion ; 
but  to  show,  at  least,  my  good-will  to  execute  any  task  you  may 
impose  upon  me,  I  send  you  the  lines,  as  far  as  I  have  yet  trans- 
lated ;  after  seeing  wliich,  you  will  probably  feel  but  little  anxiety 
for  the  remainder. 

"  Beheve  me,  dear  Madam, 

"  Ever  your  obliged  and  affectionate 

"  Reginald  Heber. 


TRANSLATION  OF  AN  ODE  OF  KLOPSTOCK'S.  361 

"  You  will  observe  in  this  bad  translation,  that  my  principal    chap 
difficulty  has  been  to  vary  the  lines,  which,  in  the  original,  are  re-      isos. 
peated  over  and  over  again  with  very  good  effect ;  but  this  could 
not  be  retained  in  Enghsh. 

He. 

Ah  Selma !  if  our  love  the  fates  should  sever. 

And  bear  thy  spirit  from  the  world  below. 
Then  shall  mine  eyes  be  wet  with  tears  for  ever, 

Each  gloomy  mom,  each  night  of  darker  woe  ; 
Each  hour,  that  past  so  soon  in  thy  embracing. 

Each  minute  keenly  felt  shall  force  a  tear  ; 
The  long  long  months  !  the  years  so  slowly  pacing  ! 

Which  all  were  swift  alike,  and  all  were  dear. 

She. 

My  Selmar !  ah,  if  from  thy  Selma  parted. 

Thy  soul  should  first  the  paths  of  darkness  tread, 
Sad  were  my  course,  and  short,  and  broken-hearted, 

To  weep  those  lonely  days,  that  dismal  bed  ! 
Each  hour  that  erst  in  converse  sweet  returning, 

Shone  with  thy  smile,  or  spai'kled  with  thy  tear ; 
Each  lingering  day  should  lengthen  out  my  mourning, 

The  days  that  past  so  smfUy  and  so  dear ! 

He. 

And  did  I  promise,  Selma,  years  of  sorrow  ? 

And  canst  thou  linger  only  days  behind  ? 
Few  minutes,  few,  be  mine  from  fate  to  borrow, 

Near  thy  pale  cheek  and  breathless  form  reclin'd, 
Press  thy  dead  hand,  and,  wildly  bending  o'er  thee, 

Print  one  last  kiss  upon  thy  glazed  eye. 

She. 

Nay,  Selmar,  nay — I  will  not  fall  before  thee  ; 

That  pang  be  mine  ;  thou  shalt  not  see  me  die  ; 
Some  few  sad  moments  on  thy  death-bed  lying, 

By  thy  pale  corpse  my  trembling  frame  shall  be ; 
Gaze  on  thy  altered  form,  then,  inly  sighing, 

Sink  on  that  breast,  and  wax  as  pale  as  thee." 

VOL.  I.  3    A 


362  QUARTERLY  REVIEW. 


CHAP. 
XI.  _, 

1810.  To  John  Thornton,  Ii^sq. 


Hodnet  Rectory,  January  lOth,  1810. 

"  Believe  me  I  am  obliged  to  any  occurrence  which  recalls 
me  to  your  recollection,  and  procures  me  a  letter  from  you,  though 
I  own  I  am  sorry  on  the  whole  that  you  have  left  Norwood.  The 
cottage,  the  garden,  and  the  redbreasts  were  all  very  interesting  to 
me  ;  and  it  would  vex  me  if  I  were  to  pass  by,  and  see  a  new  white 
summer-house  run  up,  and  some  cockneys  smoking,  as  may  perhaps 
be  its  lot  now  you  have  abandoned  it. 

"  I  am  much  gratified  with  the  attention  you  have  paid  to  my 
review,  and  with  your  approbation  of  it '.  The  poem  on  Tala- 
vera  is  very  sphited,  and  only  unfortunate  in  being  necessarily  com- 
pared with  Scott ;  the  author  is  understood  to  be  Mr.  Croker. 
The  best  article,  I  think,  in  the  Review  is  the  critique  on  Parr, 
which  both  in  wit,  taste,  and  good  sense  is  superior  to  almost 
every  thing  of  Jeffery's.  I  intend,  as  far  as  my  necessary  business 
vdll  give  me  time,  to  contribute  frequently  to  the  Quaiierly  Re- 
view, as  it  serves  to  keep  up  my  acquaintance  with  several  in- 
teresting subjects,  which  I  might  else,  perhaps,  neglect.  The 
religious  poems  are  at  a  stand-still.  In  summer  when  I  walked 
in  green  fields,  or  sat  under  shady  trees,  such  fancies  often  came 
into  my  head ;  now,  I  have  unpacked  six  boxes  of  old  Divinity, 
and  am  otherwise  employed. 

"  You  will  be  amused  and,  perhaps,  interested  to  hear  that 
my  Berlin  Luther  has  aiforded  me  much  pleasure,  and  many 
valuable  hints  for  sermons.  Yet  he  is,  in  some  places,  incon- 
ceivably coarse,  and  generally  displays  gi-eat  want  of  reading  ;  but 
his  strong  mind  makes  ample  amends.  He  is  a  sort  of  religious 
Cobbett ;  but  with  similar  vulgarity  of  sentiment  he  has  more 
eloquence,  and  writes,  as  far  as  I  am  a  judge,  excellent  German. 

I  now  come  to  the  promise  you  so  kindly  make  of  coming  here 

'  Review  in  the  Quarterly  for  1 809,  of  "  Travelling  Sketches  in  Russia  and  Sweden  during 
the  years  1805,  6,  7,  8  ;  by  Robert  Kerr  Porter." 


CLARKE'S  TRAVELS.  363 

in   June ;  nothing  can  give  us  more  pleasure,  and  I  do  sincerely    chap. 
hope  you  will  contrive  it.     Emily  and  myself  are  both  as  well  as  we      isio. 
can  wish,  and  as  happy  as  we  can  hope  to  be."  == 

To  John  Thornton,  Esq. 

Hodnet  Rectory,  1810. 
"  I  agree  with  you  in  thinking  that  my  Russian  notes  are  made 
more  conspicuous  in  the  Quarterly  Review  of  Clarke's  Travels,  than 
the  proportion  they  bear  to  the  rest  of  the  work  would  lead  one  to 
expect.  You  will  not  wonder,  however,  that  he  himself  should  be 
treated  coolly,  when  I  tell  you  that  the  reviewer  is  a  staunch 
Muscovite,  and  an  *  old  courtier  of  the  Queen's,'  during  the  most 
splendid  days  of  Catherine.  With  the  Edinburgh  Review,  as  far 
as  good  words  go,  both  he  and  I  have  reason  to  be  satisfied.  I 
do  not,  however,  think  that,  even  there,  they  have  been  sufficiently 
acquainted  with  their  subject  to  appreciate  justly  his  knowledge 
of  antiquities,  the  liveliness  of  his  sketches  of  manners,  and  his 
power  of  comparing  one  nation  with  another,  which  are,  I  think, 
his  strong  holds.     And  they  show  a  little  too  plainly  their  constant 

wish  to  make  every  thing  a  handle  for  politics.     *  *  * 

*  *  *  * 

*  *  *  * 

"  How  do  you  like  the  defence  of  Pitt  in  the  last  Quarterly  ? 
It  is  by  the  same  person  who  reviewed  Dr.  Parr's  Philopatus,  and 
written  still  more  powerfully.  If  I  wished  that  Clarke  had  got 
more  praise,  you  will  easily  beheve  that  I  was  most  thoroughly 
vexed  and  surprised  at  the  rough  way  in  which  Dealtry  is  handled, 

and  which  I  attributed,  till  I  got  your  letter,  to  Dr. ,  whom 

you  seem  to  acquit.  Giffbrd  probably  knew  nothing  of  Dealtry  ; 
but  he  has  been  ere  this  informed  as  to  his  real  character  and  at- 
tainments, which,  though  the  past  is  irretrievable,  will  serve  as  a 
caution  in  future. 

"  How  soon  does  Clarke  come  out  with  his  octavo  ?  I  should 
like  very  much,  if  you  thought  I  might  venture,  to  give  him  some 

3  A  2 


364  RIOTS  AT  BIRMINGHAM,  &c. 

CHAP,  remarks,  through  you,  on  some  of  the  too  caustic  assertions  respect- 
'»'"•  ing  the  Russian  character.  His  travels  are  the  only  good  account 
we  have  of  Russia ;  and  one  is  really  interested  that  they  should  be 
made  as  perfect  as  possible.  What  I  send,  however,  may  go  to  you 
first ;  and  if  you  please,  you  may  communicate  with  me  in  the  same 
manner.  I  still  think  that  many  things  in  your  letters  would  be 
interesting  and  useful. 

"  Ever  your's  truly, 

"  Reginald  Heber." 
To  Mrs.  R.  Heber. 

1810. 

"  We  had  a  good  journey,  but  so  intolerably  dusty,  that 
I  can  even  yet  hardly  breathe.  My  fellow-travellers  were  dust 
and  ashes  indeed;  most  admirable  emblems  of  mortality,  except- 
ing in  their  conversation,  which  was  very  sensible,  and  rather 
above  the  common  run  of  a  mail-coach.  They  consisted  of  a 
Welch  attorney,  with  his  wife,  a  philosophical  ironmonger,  and  a 
poor  sick  Irish  officer,  to  whom  the  ironmonger,  with  great  hu- 
manity, resigned  his  place  in  the  inside. 

"  There  have  been  some  insignificant  riots  at  Birmingham  and 
Wolverhampton,  occasioned  by  the  dearness  of  provisions  ;  but  no- 
thing of  a  dangerous  nature.  The  local  militia  at  the  latter  place 
were  a  good  deal  inclined  to  share  in  the  popular  feeling,  but  were 
repressed  by  the  presence  of  the  yeomanry,  many  of  whom,  as  a 
yeoman  whom  I  spoke  with  said,  were,  in  fact,  their  masters  and 
employers,  as  farmers  or  manufacturers.  All  is  now  quiet,  and  the 
farmers  near  Birmingham  have  volunteered  to  reduce  the  price  of 
corn.  No  lives  Avere  lost,  nor  any  material  mischief  done.  I  am 
sorry  to  say  that  the  crops  look  very  ill  in  most  places,  worse  in 
Shropshire,  I  think,  than  any  where  else. 

"  As  we  were  about  two  miles  from  Oxford,  we  saw  a  man 
lying  senseless  on  the  road ;  I  lifted  him  up,  and  on  giving  him 
some  cold  water  he  recovered,  having  fainted  from  fatigue  and 
hunger.     It  was  the  second  day  he  had  eaten  nothing,  and  he  had 


"  LADY  OF  THE  LAKE  "  365 

walked  that  morning  from  Uxbridge.     It  was  very  providential  that    chap. 
we  passed  by,  as  night  was  coming  on,  and  would  certainly  have      isio. 
been  his   last.     We  got  him  some  refreshment  at  a  neighbouring 
cottage,  and,   of  course,  supplied   him  for  the  remainder  of  his 
journey,  which  was  to  Stratford. 

"  Another  accident  was  far  more  distressing.  In  passing 
through  Newport,  the  carriage-wheel  went  over  a  poor  girl, 
and  broke  her  leg.  I  had  the  satisfaction  of  hearing  from  the 
surgeon  that  the  fracture  was  not  dangerous,  and  he  assured  me 
he  would  take  all  possible  care  of  her,  to  induce  him  to  which  I 
left  my  address." 

To  R.  J.  Wilmot,  Esq. 

Hodnet  Rectory,  August  2,  1810. 

"  Dear  Wilmot, 

"  You  will  think  me  a  very  shabby  and  uncivil 
person  in  not  answering,  long  since,  your  entertaining  lettei*,  M'hich 
nothing  has  prevented  my  doing  except  inability  to  comply  with 
the  principal  request  contained  in  it.  I  am  not  sufficiently  perfect 
in  it  to  write  it  all  down  from  memory,  nor  have  I  forgot  how 
keenly  you  looked  after  my  errours  ui  this  kind,  when  we  were  at 
Barmouth.  And  Heber,  whose  arrival  was  to  have  furnished  me 
with  an  authentic  copy,  has  been  called  by  business  into  Yorkshire, 
so  that  I  see,  at  present,  little  chance  of  my  being  able  to  transmit 
o  you  *  the  Leopard  of  Malwaw,'  for  some  weeks  longer. 


"  How  do  you  like  the  '  Lady  of  the  Lake  ?'  Her  boat  had 
not  touched  the  strand,  I  think,  when  we  parted  last.  *  ■  * 
*  *  I  have  myself  been  laid  up  for  this  week  back  with 
a  sprained  ancle ;  and  have  been  reading  Plato  and  writing  ser- 
mons till  I  am  become  bilious  and  leucophlegmatic  from  inaction ; 
and  have  been  haunted  by  various  fancies,  the  mishapen  births  of 
solitude,  in  particular  that  I  was  going  to  have  the  gout,  which, 
however,  did  not  proceed  further  than  my  imagination.    I  have  been 


366  LETTER  TO  JOHN  THORNTON,  ESQ. 

CHAP,  also  soured  by  the  income-tax,  which  I  have  this  year  had  the 
Tsio.  honour  of  paying  twice,  owing  to  the  agent  to  whom  I  had  en- 
trusted  money  for  that  purpose,  having  died  suddenly,  and  I  fear 
pretty  near  insolvent.  Under  these  sorrows  you  must  not  expect 
so  gay  a  letter  from  me,  as  if  it  were  written  under  the  witty 
influence  of  a  red  coat,  and  with  the  jaunty  air  of  Macclesfield  yet 
clinging  to  me.  In  good  sadness,  however,  and  with  all  the 
seriousness  which  such  an  assertion  demands, 

"  Believe  me  ever  your  obliged  friend, 

"  Reginald  Heber." 

To  John  Thornton,  Esq. 

Hodnet  Rectory,  October  8, 1810. 

"  Among  busy  men,  for  I  too  am  busy  in  a  certain  degree, 
though  much  less  occupied  than  you  are,  excuses  for  a  slack  cor- 
respondence are  almost  needless.  I,  however,  feel  that  you,  whose 
time  is  so  much  more  precious,  and  yet  can  find  a  half  hour  for  a 
friend,  have  very  good  reason  to  complain  of  me  ;  and  I  feel  myself 
obliged  to  tell  you  that  I  have  been  really  pressed  hard  during 
the  last  month  with  different  reasons  for  writing. 

"  I  have  had  an  infirmary  sermon,  a  long  article  for  a  Review  ', 
and  am  now  engaged  in  a  charity  sermon,  besides  the  weekly 
demand  for  sermons  in  my  own  parish,  and  the  almost  daily  calls 
of  parochial  duty.  Nor  am  I  idle  in  other  pursuits,  for  I  read 
Plato,  and  am,  though  slowly,  making  progress  in  a  poem,  which, 
if  it  does  not  miscarry,  will  be  longer  than  any  of  my  preceding 
ones  ;  it  is,  however,  but  too  probable  that  when  my  summer 
rambles  and  hedge-row  walks  are  stopped  by  sleet  and  mire,  I 
shall,  as  has  been  generally  the  case,  find  my  Pegasus  in  a  slough 
of  Despond.  After  all,  though  my  labours,  such  as  they  are, 
occupy  me  from  morning  till  night,  I  feel  ashamed  of  mentioning 
them  when  compared  with  the  labyrinth  of  care  and  exertion,  the 

'  On  "  the  present  state  of  Turkey."  By  Thomas  Thornton,  Esq.  Quarterly  Review,  1810. 

10 


LETTER  TO  E.  D.  DAVENPORT,  ESQ.  367 


constant  necessity  for  prudence,  and  the  frequent  collision  with  chap. 
the  art  and  roguery  of  other  men,  with  which  you  are  struggling.  isii- 
I  do  not  wonder,  when  I  read  your  account  of  difficulties  and 
vexations,  that  you  should  feel  some  little  disposition  to  change 
your  present  habits  for  mine  ;  and  I  am  so  far  attached  to  my  pro- 
fession, I  have  so  much  of  the  '  patriotisme  du  convent'  about  me, 
that  for  its  sake  I  could  well  rejoice  to  see  you  in  orders.  Yet  I 
rather  feel  inclined  to  encourage  you  to  persevere  in  your  present 
course  ;  it  opens  to  you,  hereafter,  a  wider  and  more  distinguished 
field  of  utility  ;  and  when  a  man  is  once  embarked  in  a  pursuit,  it 
should,  I  think,  be  a  strong  motive  to  induce  him  to  change  it. 

Consider,  too,  that  even  I  have  my  vexations.  *  * 

*  »  *  «  * 

"  Nor  are  my  labours  as  a  clergyman  such  as  to  make  me  find 
it  altogether  play.  Do  not  think,  however,  that  I  fancy  myself 
any  thing  but  what  I  am,  in  truth,  a  prosperous  man,  who  has 
unremitted  causes  of  gratitude,  and  whose  principal  apprehension 
ought  to  be  that  he  has  a  greater  share  of  earthly  happiness  than 
he  knows  how  to  manage.  I  only  mention  these  little  drawbacks 
to  remind  you  of  the  novel  remark  of  our  fi^iend  B — — ,  '  Ah,  Mr. 
Thornton,  perfect  happiness  is  not  the  lot  of  man  !'  That  you 
may  have  as  much  as  is  good  for  your  eternal  interests,  and  that 
my  gratitude  may  mcrease  daily  for  the  great  share  of  quiet  and 
prosperity  with  which  I  am  blessed,  is  my  earnest  prayer,  and  I 
think  I  may  add,  my  hope. 

"  Ever  your's  affectionately, 

"  Reginald  Heber." 

To  E.  D.  Davenport,  Esq. 

Hodnet  Rectory,  February  16,  1811. 
"  Dear  Davenport, 

"  *  *  *  *  I  do  not  accompany  my  wife  to 
the  Dashwoods,  as  I  am  most  completely  occupied  at  home  at  pre- 
sent :  but  intend  to  meet  her  at  Catton  on  the  4th  of  March,  which 


368  "  CURSE  OF  KEHAMA.' 


CHAP,    will,  I  hope,  be  no  inconvenient  time  for  your  joining  us  there 


XI. 


'»"■      an  event  to  which  I  earnestly  look  forwards,  as  well  as  to  your 
giving  us  a  week  or  two  at  Hodnet  in  the  course  of  the  spring. 

"  I  am,  you  know,  no  sportsman  ;  and  that  '  vervecum  patria,' 
Leicestershire  is,  therefore,  not  likely  to  have  many  charms  for  me. 
Heber  is  in  town,  but  is  to  return  next  week,  and  to  pass  the 
greater  part  of  the  spring  at  home.  The  Bailli '  is  well.  Have  you 
seen  Southey's  last  poem,  in  which  he,  the  Bailli,  makes  a  very 
conspicuous  figure,  with  the  addition  of  a  few  hundred  arms  and 
heads  ?  Seriously,  however,  the  '  Curse  of  Kehama'  is,  on  the 
whole,  the  finest  thing  which  Southey  has  yet  produced,  and  will, 
I  think,  please  you  greatly.  (I  have  desired  Emily  to  take  the  vo- 
lume in  the  carriage  with  her  on  her  present  visit.)  He  particularly 
excels  in  the  representation  of  a  loud  and  powerful  noise ;  and 
his  descriptions  of  nuptial  rejoicings  and  of  the  bellowing  of  fiends, 
are  perhaps  two  of  the  most  clamorous  and  sonorous  pieces  of 
poetry  in  the  English  language.  How  do  you  go  on  with  your 
house  ? — mine  yet  remains  in  posse  ;  nor  have  I  received  a  single 
line  from  Harrison  since,  according  to  your  description,  he  took 
my  measure  for  it.     I  hardly  know  whether  this  will  find  you  in 

Cheshire ;  but,  as  the  safest  course,  I  direct  to  Capesthorne.        * 
«  *  *  * 

"  Believe  me,  dear  Davenport, 

"  Ever  your's  most  truly, 

"  Reginald  Hebek." 

To  R.  J.  Wilmot,  Esq. 

Hodnet  Rectory,  May  18,  1811. 

"  You  have  in  your  kind  letter  paid  me  two  compUments 

which  I  very  ill  deserve ;  the  first,  in  attributing  to  me  the  review 

of  '  Kehama,'  which  is  in  truth  by  Scott ;  the  other,   in  taking  it 

for  granted  that  I  should  answer  your  letter  civilly ;  which,  on 

'  "  The  Bailli  Thomasi,"  was  a  name  given  by  Mr.  Davenport  to  Mr.  R.  Heber's  younger 
brother  I'homas. 


ODES  OF  PINDAR.  -.an) 


looking  at  its  date,  and  observing  how  long  a  time  has  elapsed  tH^v. 
since  I  derived  my  first  amusement  from  it,  I  fear  you  will  have  i»"- 
been  inclined  before  this  to  retract.  I  have,  to  say  the  truth,  had 
the  most  perplexing  and  the  least  satisfactory  job  on  my  hands, 
for  several  weeks  past,  which  I  was  embarked  in  since  I  translated 
Spectators  into  Latin  for  missing  Chapel  at  Brazen  Nose.  It  has 
been  the  licking  my  pecvdiar  ideas  on  Pindar's  style,  into  the  form 
of  a  short  article  for  the  Quarterly,  purporting  to  be  a  review  of 
the  obscure  translations  of  Pindar  which  appeared  about  a  year 
ago ;  but  in  fact  intended,  as  you  suggested,  to  introduce  one  of  my 
own  attempts  which  I  have  subjoined  to  the  article.  It  is,  at 
present  a  short  review,  though  I  had  at  one  time  such  an  influx  of 
matter,  that  I  began  to  fear  I  should  have  exceeded  my  limits  ;  and 
I  have,  in  consequence,  abridged  at  such  a  rate,  that  I  am  now  in 
the  other  extreme,  and  fear  I  have  hardly  supported  my  assertions 
sufficiently.  I  am  still  by  no  means  sure  that  it  will  be  inserted. 
Gilford  liked  the  idea  when  I  first  suggested  it,  and  even  entered 
into  it  with  eagerness ;  but  it  is  not  impossible  that,  on  seeing  the 
length  of  the  specimen,  (the  first  Olympic  ode)  he  may  object  to  it 
as  unusual,  and,  in  a  review,  an  imprudent  precedent '.  This, 
with  laying  schemes  for  a  Lancasterian  school  in  Hodnet,  and  a 
fruitless  attempt  to  reform  the  psalmody,  have,  added  to  my  usual 
fagging,  pretty  much  engrossed  me.  At  least  I  have  a  better 
reason  to  plead  for  silence  than  the  Cambridge  man,  who,  on  being 
asked  '  in  what  pursuit  he  was  then  engaged,'  replied,  '  that  he 
was  diligently  employed  in  suffering  his  hair  to  grow.'       *  * 

*  *  *  Have  you  any  idea  of  going  to  the  Duke  of 

Gloucester's  installation  ?  Not  that  I  have  the  smallest ;  but  I 
should  like  to  hear  a  good  account  of  it,  as  compared  with  the 
same  sort  of  puppet-show  at  Oxford. 

"  Now  relating  to  our  Edhiburgh  excursion,  '  iia  7ne  Dii 
Deceque  perdant,  tit  quid  scribam  vohis  aid  quid  plane  non  scribam, 
hand  scio!     I  am  in  daily  expectation  of  the  estimate  for  my  new 

'  The  article  appeared  in  the  Quarterly  Review  for  1811,  and  the  translations  were  after- 
wards re-published  with  other  poems. — Ed. 

VOL.  I.  '     3    B 


.570  DUKE  OF  GLOUCESTER'S  INSTALLATION. 


CHAP,  house,  which  will  be  begun,  as  far  at  least  as  the  foundation,  the 
'81  i-  autumn  of  this  present  year;  and  on  the  amount  of  this  estimate, 
and  on  my  consequent  riches  or  poverty,  my  locomotive  powers 
will  exclusively  depend.  When  this  is  ascertained  I  can  give  you  a 
positive  answer.  In  the  mean  time  Heber  recommends  a  tour  in 
Scotland  strongly ;  but  considers  a  continued  residence  in  Edin- 
burgh as  neither  sufficiently  pleasant  nor  profitable  to  make  it 
tanti.  ***** 

******  * 

******  * 

******  * 

If,  however,  we  effect  a  meeting  in  the  summer,  we  can,  as  Sir 
Roger  de  Coverly  observed,  talk  over  these  matters  more  at  ease. 

"  Ever  your's  most  truly, 

"  Reginald  Heber." 

Of  the  Duke  of  Gloucester's  installation  at  Cambridge,  in  the 
summer  of  1812,  he  thus  writes  to  the  editor  :  "  I  was  so  hurried 
yesterday,  that  I  had  no  time  to  tell  you  of  my  arrival.  *  *  * 
The  installation  fell  short  of  even  the  annual  splendour  of  Oxford; 
but  the  Duke  made  a  very  gracefvd  speech,  and  afterwards  enter- 
tained no  less  than  a  thousand  persons  in  the  cloisters  of  Trinity, 
which  was  certainly  the  finest  sight  of  the  kind  I  ever  saw.  The 
cloisters  round  the  court  were  laid  with  tables  ;  the  dinner  was 
excellent,  with  good  wine ;  the  grass-plot  in  the  middle  was  oc- 
cupied by  a  splendid  military  band,  and  a  great  many  ladies  ;  which, 
with  the  dresses  of  the  doctors  and  masters,  fonned  a  glorious  coup 
d  'ceil.  The  evening  concluded  with  fire-works  and  a  good  supper. 
All  this  was  done  at  the  Duke's  expence  ;  few  chancellors  would 
have  liked  to  pay  so  great  a  price  for  their  honours '." 

Soon  after  Mr.  Reginald  Heber's  marriage,  he  began  to  write 
a  series  of  hymns  which  have  lately  been  published,  and  some  of 

'  On  tliis  occasion  Mr.  Reginald  Heber  was  introduced  to  Dr.  Clarke,  in  whose  "  Travels 
in  Russia"  several  notes  from  his  MS.  Journal  had  appeared. 

/ 

if 


PREFATORY  NOTICE  TO  HYMNS.  371 


which  first  made  their  appearance  in  the  "  Christian  Observer,"  in    chap 
1811  and  12,  mth  the  following  prefatory  notice.  '"^i- 

"  The  following  hymns  are  part  of  an  intended  series,  appro- 
priate to  the  Sundays  and  principal  holydays  of  the  year,  connected 
in  some  degree  with  their  particular  Collects  and  Gospels,  and  de- 
signed to  be  sung  between  the  Nicene  Creed  and  the  sermon.  The 
effect  of  an  arrangement  of  this  kind,  though  only  partially  adopted, 
is  very  striking  in  the  Romish  liturgy  ;  and  its  place  should  seem 
to  be  imperfectly  supphed  by  a  few  verses  of  the  Psalms,  entirely 
unconnected  with  the  peculiar  devotions  of  the  day,  and  selected 
at  the  discretion  of  a  clerk  or  organist.  On  the  merits  of  the  pre- 
sent imperfect  essays,  the  author  is  unaffectedly  diffident ;  and  as 
his  labours  are  intended  for  the  use  of  his  own  congregation,  he 
will  be  thankful  for  any  suggestion  which  may  advance  or  correct 
them.  In  one  respect,  at  least,  he  hopes  the  following  poems  will 
not  be  found  reprehensible ;  no  fulsome  or  indecorous  language  has 
been  knowingly  adopted ;  no  erotic  addresses  to  Him  whom  no 
unclean  lips  can  approach ;  no  allegory,  ill  understood  and  m  orse 
applied.  It  is  not  enough,  in  his  opinion,  to  object  to  such  ex- 
pressions that  they  are  fanatical ;  they  are  positively  profane. 
When  our  Saviour  was  on  earth,  and  in  great  humility  conversant 
with  mankind  ;  when  He  sat  at  the  table,  and  washed  the  feet,  and 
healed  the  diseases  of  His  creatures ;  yet  did  not  His  disciples  give 
Him  any  more  familiar  name  than  Master  or  Lord.  And  now,  at 
the  right-hand  of  His  Father's  majesty,  shall  we  address  Him  with 
ditties  of  embraces  and  passion,  or  in  language  which  it  would  be 
disgraceful  in  an  earthly  sovereign  to  endure  ?  Such  expressions, 
it  is  said,  are  taken  from  Scripture ;  but  even  if  the  original  appli- 
cation, which  is  often  doubtful,  were  clearly  and  unequivocally 
ascertained,  yet,  though  the  collective  Christian  Church  may  be 
very  properly  personified  as  the  spouse  of  Christ,  an  application 
of  such  language  to  Christian  believers  is  as  dangerous  as  it  is 
absurd  and  unauthorized.  Nor  is  it  going  too  far  to  assert,  that 
the  brutalities  of  a  common  swearer  can  hardly  bring  religion  into 
more  sure  contempt,  or  more  scandalously  pi'ofane  the  Name  which 

.      3  B  2 


•'572  "  DICTIONARY  OF  THE  BIBLE." 

CHAP,    is  above  every  name  in  Heaven  and  earth,  tlian  certain  epithets 
^"'^-      apphed  to  Christ  in  some  of  our  popular  collections  of  religious 
poetry." 

The  greater  number  of  these  hymns  were  composed  for  par- 
ticular tunes.  Without  being  musical,  Mr.  Reginald  Heber's  ear 
was  accurate ;  and  he  had  a  remarkable  talent  for  adapting  poetry 
to  any  tune  which  he  chanced  to  hear.  In  1812,  he  commenced  a 
"  Dictionary  of  the  Bible,"  which  continued  to  be  one  of  his 
favourite  employments  during  his  residence  in  England ;  and  to 
which  he  always  returned  with  ardour  when  not  engaged  in  more 
urgent  avocations.  In  the  same  year  he  also  published  a  small 
volume  of  poems,  which,  besides  those  already  well  known  to  the 
public,  contained  translations  of  Pindar,  and  a  few  pieces  written 
on  various  occasions.  Although  he  had,  in  a  great  measure,  laid 
aside  a  pursuit  to  which  both  his  inclination  and  talent  disposed 
him,  yet  in  moments  of  recreation,  or  at  the  request  of  a  friend, 
he  would  prove  that  his  "  right  hand  had  not  forgot  her  cunning." 
About  this  time  he  began  the  poem  on  the  Morte  d' Arthur,  now 
given  at  the  conclusion  of  these  volumes,  in  which  he  made  con- 
siderable progress,  but  which  was  interrupted  and  finally  sus- 
pended by  higher  occupations.  He  was  particularly  fond  of 
Scotch  and  Welsh  music  ;  the  following  stanzas  were  repeated  on 
hearing  an  intimate  friend  hum  a  Scotch  tune ;  and  the  songs 
which  follow  were  written  to  Welch  airs. 


I  love  the  hai-p  with  siher  soimd, 
That  lings  the  festal  hall  around  ; 

But  sweetest  of  all 

The  strains  which  fall, 
When  twilight  mirth  with  song  is  crown'd. 

I  love  the  bugle's  warbling  swell. 
When  echo  answers  from  her  cell ; 

But  sweeter  to  me, 

When  I  list  to  thee, 
Who  wak'st  the  northern  lay  so  well. 


SONGS.  gyg 


CHAP. 

THE  RISING  OF  THE  SUN.  ,^}- 


1812. 


Wake  !  wake  !  wake  to  the  hunting  ! 
Wake  ye,  wake  !  the  moniing  is  nigh  ! 
Chilly  the  breezes  blow 
Up  from  the  sea  below, 
ChiUy  the  twilight  creeps  over  the  skj- ! 
Mark  how  fast  the  stars  are  fading  ! 
Mark  how  wide  the  dawn  is  spreading ! 
Many  a  fallow  deer 
Feeds  in  the  forest  near ; 
Now  is  no  time  on  the  heather  to  lie ! 

Rise,  rise  !  look  on  the  ocean  ! 
Rise  ye,  rise,  and  look  on  the  sky  ! 

Softly  the  vapours  sweep 

Over  the  level  deep, 
Softly  the  mists  on  the  water-fall  lie  ! 
In  the  cloud  red  tints  are  glowing, 
On  tlie  hill  the  black  cock's  crowing  ; 

And  through  the  welkin  red, 

See  where  he  lifts  his  head, 
(Forth  to  the  hunting !)   The  sun's  riding  high ! 


The  moon  in  silent  brightness 

Rides  o'er  the  moimtain  brow, 
The  mist  in  fleecy  whiteness 

Has  clad  the  vale  below ; 
Above  the  woodbine  bow'r 

Dai-k  waves  om-  trysting-tree  ; 
It  is,  it  is  the  hour. 

Oh  come,  my  love,  to  me  ! 

The  dews  of  night  have  wet  me, 

Wliile  wand'ring  lonelily ; 
Thy  father's  bands  beset  me — 

I  only  fear'd  for  thee. 
I  crept  beneath  thy  tower, 

I  climb'd  the  ivy  tree  ; 
And  blessed  be  the  hour 

That  brings  my  love  to  me. 


374  ILLNESS,  AND  REMOVAL  TO  MORETON. 

CHAP.  I  left  my  chosen  numbers 


XI. 

1812. 


In  yonder  copse  below, 
Each  wairior  lightly  slumbers 

His  hand  upon  his  bow  ; 
From  forth  a  tyrant's  power 

They  wait  to  set  thee  free ; 
It  is,  it  is  the  hour, — 

Oh  come,  my  love,  to  me  ! 

But  his  pursuits  of  every  kind  were  now  interrupted  by  the 
return  of  a  cutaneous  disorder,  originally  brought  on  by  exposure 
to  the  night  air  in  an  open  carriage  during  his  journey  through  the 
Crimea,  and  which  had  never  been  entirely  eradicated.  He  tried 
the  waters  of  Harrogate,  and  a  variety  of  other  remedies,  without 
any  but  temporary  relief;  and  at  last  was  only  cm'ed  by  warm  sea- 
bathing, and  a  long  course  of  mercurial  medicines.  To  this  painful 
and  distressing  illness,  which  he  bore  with  his  natural  cheerfulness, 
frequent  allusions  are  made  in  his  letters. 

The  house  which  Mr.  Reginald  Heber  found  on  his  living  was 
small  and  inconvenient,  and  so  much  out  of  repair,  that  it  was  ne- 
cessary to  build  a  new  one  on  a  diflPerent  part  of  the  glebe.  In 
1812  the  old  rectory-house  was  pulled  down,  and  during  the 
next  two  years  he  resided  at  Moreton,  a  perpetual  curacy  and  a 
chapel  of  ease  to  Hodnet. 


CHAPTER   XII. 


Publication  of  Mr.  Reginald  Heber's  poems — Letter  on  the  death  of  Lieutenant  R.J. 
Shipley — Letter  on  the  Russian  navy — Illness — Letter  on  lay-baptism — War  in 
Russia  — Moscow  —  Lucien  Buonaparte^s  "  Charlemagne''''  —  Remarks  on  Sir 
William  Drummond's  "CEdipus  Judaicus'' — Madame  de  Stael — "L^Allemagne" 
— Bible  Society —  Wilkins''  "  Siege  of  Jerusalem'''' — Letter  on  the  languages  of  the 
North  of  Europe — Death  of  Colonel  Hill — "  History  of  the  Cossaks." 


To  John  Thornton,  Esq. 

Hodnet  Rectory,  March  17,  1812. 

''  Our  journey  to  Harrogate  will  take  place,  I  expect,  about 
the  latter  end  of  April ;  it  is  a  very  pleasant  circumstance  for  us 
that  the  Wilmots  are  going  there  about  the  same  time. 

"  What  time  I  have  been  able  to  spare  has  been  chiefly  de- 
voted to  preparing  for  the  press  a  collected  edition  of  all  my 
poems,  on  which  Longman  and  Rees  have  stimulated  me  to  ven- 
ture ;  hoping,  perhaps,  that  Dr.  Crotch's  music ',  which  you  have 
seen  advertised,  may  tend  to  revive  the  vogue  of  the  poem  he  has 
made  use  of. 

"  Soon  after  the  25th  of  this  month  we  are  to  leave  our  pre- 
sent old  house,  the  materials  of  which  are  to  be  applied  to  the  new 
building,  and  to  take  shelter  in  the  parsonage  at  Moreton  for  two 
years.  The  change,  in  point  of  goodness  of  mansion,  is  consider- 
ably for  the  better,  and  we  are  still  within  Hodnet  parish,  properly 
so  called,  of  which  Moreton  is  a  dependent  member. 

'  "  Palestine"  was  set  to  music,  as  an  Oratorio,  by  Dr.  Crotch,  about  this  time. — Ed. 

2 


CHAP. 
XII. 

1812. 


376                                                        VISIT  TO  HARROGATE. 
CHAP.  "  Both  the  crown  Prince  of  Denmark  and  the 

XII. 

1812- seem  inchned  to  give  their  old  friends  a  practical  com- 
ment on  the  text  in  Scripture,  forbidding  us  to  put  trust  in  them. 
Henceforth  I  should  recommend  all  political  prophets  to  fortify 
their  opinions  by  the  salvo  of  Tiresias  : 

"  '  O  Laertiadae !  quicqiiid  dico,  aut  erit,  aut  non." 

To  R.  J.  Wilmot,  Esq. 

Harrogate,  June  10,  1812. 

"  We  are  now  very  snugly  established  in  lodgings  in  High 

Harrogate,  which  continues  as  empty  as  possible.    The  great  P 

is  still  president  at  the  Crown,  though  he  has  been  so  bilious  that 
the  necessity  of  a  regency  was  apprehended. 

"  We  had  a  very  pleasant  round  by  Ripon  and  York,  seeing  the 
various  lions  in  and  near  each,  such  as  Fountain's  Abbey,  Newby, 
and  Castle  Howard.  Yesterday  we  went  to  Bolton  Priory,  which  I 
do  not  think  you  mentioned  having  seen,  but  which  is  '  past  all  per- 
adventure,'  as  Master  Fuller  writes ;  the  thing  most  worth  seeing  in 
the  neighbourhood,  and  which  struck  us  more,  as  nothing  can  be 
more  dreary  and  barren  than  the  surrounding  country,  and  the 
woods  and  waterfalls  burst  on  us  completely  by  surprise.  Emily 
drinks  the  chalybeate  a  Venvi,  and  is  improving  visibly  in  health. 
I,  too,  begin  to  have  better  hopes  of  myself  than  formerly,  as, 
though  far  from  well,  my  disorder  certainly  loses  ground.  Emily 
is  a  complete  missionary  of  mnemonics,  and  has  established  a  little, 
but  thriving  society  of  converts  and  neophytes  at  Ripon,  where, 
however,  are  some  who  rebel. 

"  King  Arthur  has  made  pretty  considerable  progress  in  an- 
other canto,  which  is  to  be  much  fuller  of  moralization  than  the 
former. 

"  To  speak  of  politics  to  you,  would  be  carrying  coals  to 
Newcastle;  so  I  shall  only  express  my  concern  at  the  strange 
chaos  which  at  this  moment  perplexes  all  firesides,  from  the  par- 
son's to  the  privy-counsellor's.     »  *  *  * 


DEATH  OF  LIEUT.  R.  J.  SHIPLEY.  377 


* 

* 

* 

*                *                *                * 

* 

* 

* 

*               *               *               » 

"  Ever  your's  faithfully, 

"  Reginald  Heber." 

To  Mrs.  C.  L.  SMpleij. 

Moreton,  July,  1812. 

"  Emily  has  borne  the  shock  of  the  sad  event  announced  in 
your  letter,  quite  as  well  as  I  could  have  expected.  Poor  thing ! 
she  had  not  even  the  advantage  of  having  her  loss  gradually 
broken  to  her,  as  she  came  unexpectedly  into  my  room  while  I 
was  reading  the  letter,  and  immediately  anticipated  its  contents, 
as  her  alarms  had  been  excited  some  days  before,  by  accomits  of 
the  yellow  fever  in  the  West  Indies.         *  *  *  * 

*  *  *  *     Emily,  herself,  is,  I  think,  the  greatest 

sufferer  of  the  family,  as  from  parity  of  age  and  other  circum- 
stances, her  affection  to  John  '  was,  perhaps,  strongest.  *  * 
Indeed  her  loss  is  very  heavy.  Little  as  I  myself  had  seen  of  her 
brother,  I  never,  on  so  short  an  acquaintance,  was  disposed  to  like 
a  young  man  so  much.  Not  only  were  his  talents,  temper,  and 
manners  every  thing  that  was  most  promising  and  pleasing,  but 
there  was  a  guilelessness  about  his  character,  joined  with  a  steadi- 
ness of  principle,  and  a  freedom,  apparently  at  least,  from  most  of 
the  common  vices  of  a  young  man,  such  as  I  have  very  seldom 
met  with.  These  latter  traits,  however,  though  they  make  the 
loss  more  heavy,  afford  the  best  comfort  under  it. 

"  I  pity  the  poor  Dean  greatly.     God  knows  what  we  wish  for 
when  we  wish  for  children.  Farewell,  God  bless  and  comfort  you  all. 

"  Your's  truly, 

"  Reginald  Heber." 

'  Robert  John  Shipley,  fifth  and  youngest  son  of  the  Dean  of  St.  Asaph,  a  Lieutenant  in 
the  Royal  Artillery,  who  died  of  the  yellow  fever  in  the  West  Indies,  1812. 

VOL.  I.  3  c 


"  You  have,  I  conclude,   got  acquainted  with  your  cousin,    f  hah. 
Lord  Byron,   of  whom,  I  enti'eat  you  by  your  father's  beard  and      >«'2- 
your  own  right  hand,  to  send  me  a  full  and  impartial  account. 


378  ON  THE  RUSSIAN  NAVY. 


CHAP. 

xn. 

1812. 


To  R.  W.  Hmj,  Esq. 

Moretoti,  1812. 
"  Dear  Hay, 

"  I  feel  truly  gratified  by  your  kind  letter  and  recol- 
lection of  me,  and  am  sorry  that  I  can  send  you  no  satisfactory 
answer  respecting  the  Russian  navy  at  Cherson  and  Nicolaef  I 
had  taken  some  memoranda  respecting  both  these  places,  but  since 
Dr.  Clarke  has  selected  from  my  journals  whatever  he  thought 
most  curious,  my  papers  have  been  so  much  dispersed,  that  I  am 
altogether  at  a  loss  to  know  how  to  recur  to  any  part  of  them. 
The  time  since  I  received  your  letter  has  been  spent  in  endea- 
vouring to  recover  some  facts,  but  there  are  none  on  which  I 
can  rely.  At  Cherson  they  were  building  two  ships,  one  of  60, 
the  other  of  36  or  38  guns,  which  were  then  very  little  advanced 
beyond  the  keels.  I  think,  but  am  not  positive,  that  there  were 
no  vessels  in  a  sea-worthy  state,  except  some  of  the  small  craft 
used  in  the  Black  Sea  of  foxir  or  six  guns,  and  a  large  latteen  sail. 

"  At  Nicolaef  there  was  very  little  appearance  of  activity  in 
the  dock-yards,  as  far  as  building  was  concerned ;  but  a  great  show 
of  stores,  great  at  least  to  an  inexperienced  eye ;  three  sail  of  the 
line,  I  think,  were  in  the  harbour,  but  apparently  as  Avell  stricken 
in  years  as  those  at  Sebastopol.  Next  to  being  able  to  give  infor- 
mation oneself  is  telling  where  it  can  be  got ;  and  I  recollect  an 
intelligent  young  Englishman  whom  I  met  at  Cherson,  with  the 
consul  Yeames,  who  was  very  well-informed  as  to  the  sea-ports 
in  the  south  of  Russia.  He  has  since  been  clerk  in  Thornton's 
house ;  and  by  his  means  Thornton  was  enabled  to  offer  some 
very  curious  information  respecting  the  then  state  of  Russian 
commerce  to  Dr.  Clarke,  who  for  some  reason  did  not,  I  believe, 
make  use  of  it.  From  him  you  may  obtain  more  satisfactory 
intelligence  as  to  the  two  arsenals  which  are  the  objects  of  your 
enquiry. 

"  I  had  the  pleasure  of  being  introduced  this  summer  at 
Harrogate  to  your  uncle.  Dr. ,  and  heard  with  great  satis- 


ILLNESS.  379 

faction  from  him  that  you  were  well,  and,  what  I  know  is  necessary  chap. 
to  your  happiness,  that  you  were  active.  It  is,  alas,  almost  a  1812. 
hopeless  thing  to  ask  you  to  visit  a  remote  situation  in  Shropshire ; 
but  if  such  an  excursion  should,  fall  within  the  compass  of  proba- 
bility, I  need  not  say  how  happy  I  should  feel  in  renewing  our 
Oxford  and  Russian  colloquies  over  my  rectory  fire.  You  have 
ranged  far  and  wide  since  we  last  met ;  the  extent  of  ray  excur- 
sions meantime  has  been  little  more  than  that  of  an  artichoke, 
between  the  garden  and  the  fire- side.  My  German  readmg,  which 
I  have  kept  up  with  some  care,  is  the  only  thing  which  continues 
to  connect  me  with  the  scenes  of  my  former  rambling. 

"  Believe  me,  dear  Hay, 

"  Ever  yours  most  truly, 

"  Reginald  Heber." 

To  R.  J.  Wilmot,  Esq. 

Moreton,  August  2,  1812. 
"  Writing  has  been  for  a  fortnight  back  a  service  of  some  pain 
and  difficulty  to  me.  If  you  ever  fell  in  vni\\  Costigan's  Travels  in 
Portugal,  you  need  not  be  informed  of  the  high  military  station 
held  by  Saint  Anthony,  who  was  in  those  days  Colonel  of  the  First 
Regiment  of  Guards,  and  held  the  rank  of  Field  Marshal  of  the 
forces.  Just  such  a  military  Saint  Anthony  has  kept  up  the  hottest 
fire  ever  witnessed  on  this  side  the  Douro  on  my  right-wing ;  and 
though,  in  the  first  instance,  repelled  by  copious  lotions  of  goulard 
and  water,  has  repeated  his  attack  a  second  time,  and  is  now  a 
second  time  defeated.  The  enemy  being  expelled,  the  civil  powers 
have  resumed  their  functions,  and  this  is  almost  the  first  exertion 
since  the  second  siege.  This  aggression  of  the  saint's  is  more  un- 
provoked and  unexpected,  as  it  has  no  necessary  connection  with 
my  former  complaint,  any  more  than  as  the  irritable  state  of  my 
skin  makes  me  more  liable  to  such  affections  than  I  otherwise 
should  be.  It  has  too,  I  think,  had  an  unfavourable  mfluence 
on  my  original  enemy,  which  still  maintains  a  sort  of  guerilla  war- 
fare, and  by  too  evident  tokens  gives  me  to  understand  that  it  has 

3  c  2 


380  ON  LAY  BAPTISM. 

CHAP,    by  no  means  yielded  to  the  boasted  waters  of  Yorkshire.     There 

XII.  J  J 

i8'2      are  those  who  assure  me,  that  in  the  neighbourhood  of  Welhngton, 
in  this  county,  is  a  well  of  more  efficacious  stench  and  ill  taste 

than  even  that  we  lately  imbibed  together.  *  * 

****** 

*  *  *  Darwin  still  maintains  the  cura- 

bility of  my  disorder ;  and  even  in  this  last  visitation,  the  severest 
to  which  I  have  ever  been  exposed,  I  have  ample  reason  for  grati- 
tude to  Providence ;  had  the  erysipelas  attacked  my  legs,  it  is 
probable,  from  the  irritable  state  of  the  skin,  that  I  should  have 
been  lame  for  many  months  ;  and  if  my  head  had  been  assailed 
with  equal  violence,  my  wife's  affectionate  care  of  her  sick  husband, 
would  have,  possibly,  ere  this  been  brought  to  a  conclusion. 

"  I  am  glad  to  hear  you  have  settled  yourself  comfortably  in 
London.  I  know  not  whether  the  scenes  of  bustle  which  you  are 
now  in  all  probability  witnessing,  have  a  tendency  to  increase  or 
diminish  your  parliamentary  ardour  ;  if  indeed  a  seat  in  parliament 
be  an  object  of  so  great  importance  to  those  who  enter  it  with  no 
intention  of  speaking,  how  much  more  will  it  be  to  one  who  re- 
gards it  as  an  honourable  career,  and  who  looks  to  an  interminable 
vista  of  other  pursuits  ?     *         *        * 

"  My  paper  is  at  an  end,  though  not  what  I  had  to  say.  How 
garrulous  is  complaint !  I  have,  I  find,  taken  up  two-thirds  of  my 
sheet  with  the  narrative  of  my  own  illness,  a  subject  which  might 
require  an  apology,  did  I  not  know  the  friendly  interest  which  you 
take  in  my  existence  such  as  it  is." 

The  following  letter  was  written,  but  never  sent,  to  the  editor 
of  a  periodical  work,  who  had  published  some  animadversions  on 
an  article  on  lay  baptism,  which  appeared  in  the  Quarterly  Review 
for  March,  1812. 

"  Mr.  Editor, 

"  I  have  no  pretensions  to  set  myself  up  as  moderator 
between  the  Quarterly  Review,  and  the  gentleman,  who,  in  your 


ON  LAY  BAPTISM.  381 


miscellany  for  July,  has  offered  some  pretty  severe  strictures  on     c^ap. 


XII. 


their  assertions  concerning  lay  baptism.  But,  as  I  verily  believe  's'^- 
that  the  general  principles  on  which  that  review  is  conducted,  are 
deserving  of  the  praise  which  your  correspondent  liberally  bestows 
on  them,  I  am  anxious  to  suggest  some  reasons  which  may,  perhaps, 
induce  him  to  think  that,  even  in  the  question  where  their  decision 
has  offended  him,  they  are  not  so  much  at  variance  as  he  supposes, 
either  with  the  common  practice  of  the  Cluistian  Church,  or  the 
doctrines  and  ritual  of  the  Church  of  England.  I  am  anxious  to 
do  this,  because  I  willingly  give  your  correspondent  credit  for  the 
same  attachment  to  our  religious  establishment,  which  he  allows  to 
the  Quarterly  reviewers ;  and  because  the  present  time  is  one 
which  makes  it  peculiarly  desirable,  that  no  mutual  suspicion  or 
jealousy  should  exist  between  those  who  are,  in  all  essential  points, 
like-minded. 

"  1st.  The  Quarterly  reviewer  has  not,  in  any  instance  that  I 
am  aware  of,  attempted  to  justify  lay  baptism,  or  the  assumption 
(in  ordinary  cases  at  least)  of  a  power  to  dispense  this  Sacrament 
by  any  bvit  persons  episcopally  ordained.  All  for  which  he  con- 
tends, so  far  as  I  understand  him,  is  this,  that  '  quod  fieri  non 
debet,  factum  valet,'  and  that,  though  the  person  baptizing  may 
himself  be  guilty  of  usvu'pation  and  schism,  the  person  baptized 
with  water  in  the  name  of  the  Father,  Son,  and  Holy  Ghost,  may 
still  be  regarded  as  a  partaker  in  the  privileges  of  Christianity,  and 
consequently  entitled  to  receive  the  Eucharist,  to  be  admitted 
to  Christian  burial,  and  all  other  rites  of  the  Cathohc  Chm-ch. 
The  reviewer  cannot,  therefore,  be  said  to  extenuate  the  danger  of 
schism,  by  maintaining  that  the  deficiency  of  the  instrument  does 
not  impair  the  efficacy  of  the  Sacramental  grace,  any  more  than 
the  Church  of  England,  and  the  great  body  of  protestant  divines, 
can  be  said  to  extenuate  the  danger  of  sin,  by  maintaining,  against 
the  Romanists,  that  the  same  Sacramental  grace  is  not  impaired 
by  the  unwortliiness  of  the  priest  officiating. 

"  2ndly.     That   this   is   the    usual  doctrine  of  the   several 
Churches  of  the  continent,  your  correspondent  is  probably  aware. 

7 


382  ON  LAY  BAPTISM. 


CHAP.  He  himself  admits  that  the  Church  of  Rome  goes  still  fm-ther ;  and 
1812-  not  only  recognizes  the  validity  of  baptism  administered  by  laymen, 
or  by  women  in  cases  of  necessity,  but  admits  of  it  as  a  legal  and 
usual  practice.  Nor  does  he  seem  to  have  considered  that  the 
uniform  decision  of  a  sect,  embracing  so  large  a  proportion  of  the 
Christian  world,  and  which,  however  corrupt,  is  admitted  by  those 
who  most  differ  from  her,  to  be  a  true  Church  of  Christ,  is,  in  all 
doubtful  questions,  of  no  inconsiderable  authority;  while,  from  the 
known  disposition  of  the  Romish  Clergy  to  advance,  as  far  as 
possible,  the  sacred  character  of  the  priesthood,  a  presumption  will 
always  lie  against  every  doctrine  which  tends  to  carry  the  exclu- 
sive privileges  of  the  sacerdotal  office  to  an  extent  which  the  See 
of  Rome  has  not  claimed. 

"  3dly.  The  Chvu-ch  of  Rome  does  not,  in  this  respect,  stand 
alone.  The  Greek  Chm*ch,  that  of  Russia,  the  Armenian,  and  all 
the  eastern  Christians  of  whose  tenets  I  know  any  thing,  (though 
they  generally  discourage  lay  baptism,  and  many  of  them  consider 
it  as  sinful  in  the  agent)  allow  it  to  be  valid  in  the  recipient,  pro- 
vided the  forms  which  they  regard  as  essential  are  duly  complied 
with.  Their  ordinary  rule  is,  that  the  rite  ought  not  to  be  thus 
performed,  except  in  cases  of  absolute  necessity  ;  but  that  when 
performed,  it  need  not,  and  may  not  be  repeated.  With  them  the 
Lutherans  agree;  so  that  the  Calvinists  alone  remain,  who,  I  readily 
concede,  are,  after  the  authority  of  Calvin  himself,  and  Beza,  of  the 
same  opinion  with  yovir  correspondent,  and  opposed,  as  they  are 
in  many  other  particulars,  to  the  general  faith  and  practice  of  the 
Clu'istian  world. 

"  4thly.  I  apprehend  that  not  only  the  modern,  but  the 
ancient  practice  and  weight  of  authority,  are  decidedly  in  favour 
of  the  reviewer.  I  do  not  say,  nor  does  the  reviewer  say,  that  the 
administration  of  baptism  by  laymen  was  sanctioned,  in  ordinary 
cases,  by  the  primitive  Church,  inasmuch  as,  in  the  beginning, 
neither  deacons,  nor  even  priests,  were  suffered  to  baptize  without 
some  additional  authority  from  the  bishop,  or  a  visible  and  urgent 
necessity.     But  it  may  be   safely  maintained  that  a  great  propor- 


ON  LAY  BAPTISM.  383 


tion  of  the  principal  Fathers  admitted  of  lay  baptism,  in  cases  tH.u'. 
of  similar  necessity  ;  and  that  almost  all,  even  of  those  who  disap-  •^•2- 
proved  of  the  practice,  allowed  the  rite  to  be  efficacious.  Tertvd- 
lian  de  Baptismo,  Op.  p.  231.  Ed.  Rigalt,  admits  expressly  not  only 
its  validity  but  its  legahty,  though  he  dissuades  from  the  practice, 
as  fruitful  of  emulation  and  schism.  St.  Jerome,  Dial,  adversus 
Luciferianos,  Op.  T.  2.  p.  96.  Ed.  Francfurt,  1684,  is  of  the  same 
opinion,  and  speaks  of  the  practice  as  recognised  and  not  uncom- 
mon. St.  Augustin,  in  two  dialogues  preserved  by  Gratian, 
expresses  himself  similarly  ;  and  in  his  second  book  against  Panne- 
nianus,  he  observes  that  '  si  necessitas  urgeat,  aut  nullum  aut 
veniale  delictum  est.' 

"  I  have  not  now  time  nor  access  to  books,  or  it  would  be  no 
difficult  matter  to  multiply  authorities.  If  it  be  urged,  as  Wlieatley 
has  done,  that  the  great  men  whom  I  have  quoted  spoke  only 
then-  own  opinion,  not  that  of  the  Church  ;  it  may  be  answered, 
that,  in  very  many  points,  we  have  no  other  way  of  learning  the 
opinion  of  the  ancient  Church  but  through  those  whom  that 
Church  most  honoured.  But  the  fact  is,  that  the  council  of 
Ehberis  absolutely  permitted  the  exercise  of  this  rite  to  any 
behoving  layman,  not  a  bigamist.  And  the  bishop  and  clergy  of 
the  Alexandrine  Church  even  went  so  far  as  to  admit  as  valid  the 
baptism  of  certain  children,  whom  the  great  Athanasius,  when 
himself  a  boy,  had,  in  idle  and  most  culpable  imitation  of  a  religious 
ceremony,  sprinkled  with  water  in  the  name  of  the  Blessed  Trinity. 
The  story  is  told  by  Socrates,  Sozomen  and  Ruffinus,  and  is 
received  by  the  great  majority  of  learned  men  as  a  genuine  part  of 
their  histories. 

"  5thly.  The  words  of  St.  Chrysostom,  which  are  generally 
urged  on  the  opposite  side,  if  they  are  understood  as  absolute,  and 
condemning  all  such  baptism  without  exception,  will  go  too  far, 
inasmuch  as  he  excludes  deacons  from  the  office,  as  well,  and  as 
strongly,  as  laymen.  De  Sacerdot.  lib.  iii.  chap.  v.  And  tliat 
deacons  were  ordinarily  thus  excluded  in  ancient  times  is  a  known 
fact.     But,  in  cases  of  necessity,  he  elsewhere  allows  of  the  deacon 


384  ON  LAY  BAPTISM. 

CHAP,    baptizing ;  and  it  is  apparent,  therefore,  that  his  general  rule  was 
18'--      not  to  be  understood  without  occasional  relaxation. 

"  Of  the  most  distinguished  ancients,  there  remain,  therefore, 
only  Basil,  and  Cyprian  as  quoted  by  him,  who  maintained  the 
necessity  of  re-baptizing,  not  only  those  who  had  received  that 
Sacrament  from  lay  hands,  but  those  who  were  initiated  by  heretical 
priests  and  bishops,  a  conclusion  plainly  at  variance  with  the  gene- 
ral sense  of  the  Church. 

"  6thly.  Nor,  if  lay-baptism  be  once  allowed  as  valid,  can 
the  schism  of  the  administrator  vitiate  it.  The  whole  force  of 
the  opposition  rests  in  the  argument,  that  a  man  cannot  give  what 
he  has  not  himself  But  the  right  of  baptizing,  if  it  were  ever  pos- 
sessed, is  certainly  not  taken  away  by  the  sinfulness  of  the  party ; 
and  it  follows  that,  however  the  Fathers  to  whom  I  have  referred, 
might  condemn  the  usurpation  of  our  dissenting  teachers,  they 
could  not,  in  consistency,  deny  their  baptism  to  be  real,  provided 
it  were  with  the  proper  element,  and  in  the  words  prescribed  by 
Christ.  If  the  usurpation  of  the  agent  could  vitiate  the  act,  the 
baptism  of  Athanasius'  playfellows  must  have  been  repeated. 

"  7thly.  That  the  Church  of  England  forbids,  without  excep- 
tion, all  lay-baptism,  I  admit.  I  admit  that  it  is  an  indulgence  which 
any  national  Church  may  grant  or  withhold ;  and,  in  the  peculiar  cir- 
cumstances of  our  own  Church,  I  think  she  has  done  most  wisely. 
But  I  have  too  little  respect  for  Wheatley  to  follow  implicitly  a 
scholar  so  shallow,  and  a  guide,  in  many  respects,  so  dangerous, 
even  in  points  relating  to  mere  rituals ;  nor  can  I  forget  that  in 
condemning  the  act,  the  Church  does  not  necessai'ily  invalidate  it. 
I  am  sure  that  the  practice  and  authority  of  the  Church  has  been 
always  contrary  to  Wheatley's  statement.  I  know  of  no  clergy- 
men, except  the  Wesleys,  who  have  refused  the  Eucharist  to  per- 
sons who,  having  been  baptized  in  a  dissenting  communion,  have 
afterwards  come  over  to  the  Church ;  and  your  correspondent 
may  recollect,  that  their  practice  in  this  particular  was  condemned 
both  by  Gibson,  bishop  of  London,  and  by  Archbishop  Potter. 
The  German  Lutheran  clergy  are  as  absolutely  without  episcopal 


ON  LAY  BAPTISM.  385 

ordination ;  and,  therefore,  in  the  view  of  an  episcopal  Church,  as  c^^p 
merely  laymen  as  the  dissenting  teachers  in  our  own  country.  Yet,  ^»''^- 
who  ever  maintained  that  King  George  the  First,  or  the  successive 
queens  of  this  country,  were  not  members  of  the  Christian  Church  ? 
Or  who  has  blamed  the  venerable  Societies  for  the  Propagation 
of  the  Gospel,  and  Promotion  of  Christian  Knowledge  for  re- 
cognizing not  only  the  baptism,  but  the  ordination  of  Lutheran 
superintendants  and  elders,  and  employing  as  missionaries  and  as 
dispensers  of  the  Sacrament,  those  who,  if  your  correspondent 
were  correct,  are  not  entitled  to  receive  the  Eucharist  themselves  ? 
Bishop  Butler  and  Archbishop  Seeker  were  both  baptized  by  dis- 
senters. Was  it  thought  necessary  to  re-baptize  them  ?  Was  Arch- 
bishop Whitgift  wrong  when  he  maintained  that  '  the  lyfe  of  bap- 
tisme  is  to  baptize  in  the  name  of  the  Father,  the  Sonne,  and  the 
Holy  Ghoste ;  which  forme  being  observed,  the  Sacrament  remain- 
eth  in  full  force  and  strength  of  whomsoever  it  be  administered  ?' 
Were  Bishop  Bilson,  Archbishop  Abbot,  and  the  '  judicious 
Hooker,'  and  the  learned  Bingham,  heretics  in  follomng  his  opi- 
nion ?  Or,  lastly,  is  it  of  no  importance  to  the  question,  that  the 
highest  legal  authority  of  our  Church,  the  Court  of  Arches,  has 
given  a  decision  (December  11,  1809)  exactly  in  conformity  with 
these  sentiments  ?  Your  correspondent  is,  of  course,  at  liberty  to 
differ  from  all  these.  He  has  one  illustrious  name  on  his  side, 
Jeremy  Taylor,  in  his  Ductor  Duhitantium  ;  he  has  Dodwell,  who 
would  have  been  better  authority  had  he  been  less  fond  of  para- 
dox ;  and  he  has,  I  believe,  the  learned  and  highly  respectable 
Archdeacon  Daubeny.  None  of  these,  I  am  ready  to  allow,  can 
be  mentioned  without  deference ;  and  I  do  not  vindicate  the  Quar- 
terly reviewer  for  his  hasty  expressions,  in  ascribing  the  opinion 
which  they  have  maintained  to  bigotry.  But  it  is  rather  too  much 
to  say  that  '  this  opinion  is  held  by  the  Church  of  England ;'  nor 
can  I  think  the  reviewer  very  wrong  in  asserting  that  the  contrary 
doctrine  is  supported  by  the  great  majority  of  learning  and  autho- 
rity among  her  members." 

VOL.  I.  3d 


386  LETTER  TO  E.  D.  DAVENPORT,  ESQ. 


CHAP. 
XII. 
1812. 


2V>  E.  D.  Davenport,  Esq. 

Moreton,  August  dih,  1812. 

"  Dear  Davenport, 

"  If  you  feel  any  inclination  to  escape  for  a  few  days 
from  the  seat  of  war  in  Cheshire,  in  which  palatinate  the  interests 
of  your  father  are,  we  are  told,  pretty  secure,  you  may  perhaps  re- 
collect how  much  pleasure  your  society  will  confer  on  a  certain 
country  rector,  his  \vi£e  and  kindred,  in  a  neighbouring  county. 

"  We  are  approached  some  little  nearer  to  Calveley  Hall  than 
we  were  at  Hodnet,  and  are  much  better  housed  and  stabled.  The 
facade  of  the  house,  indeed,  is  not  to  be  looked  at  fasting,  as  you 
remember,  without  risque  of  the  same  nausea  which  was  excited  in 
Winkelman  by  seeing,  after  a  long  absence  '  les  toils  pyramidales 
of  Germany.  The  inside,  however,  is  really  convenient  and  com- 
fortable ;  and  compared  with  our  former  hovel,  appears  to  us  much 
more  so.     We  are  distant  from  you,  via  Dorfold  and  Shavington, 

about  twenty-two  miles  as  I  should  guess.       *  *  * 

*******  ** 

"  Wilmot  has,  perhaps,  given  you  some  account  of  our  Har- 
rogate campaign,  which  has,  I  hope,  been  of  more  service  to  him 
than  it  has  to  me.  I  have,  indeed,  been  hardly  my  former  self 
since  I  last  saw  you.  You,  I  hope,  have  been  always  well  and  un- 
plagued  by  that  sharp-toothed  pledge  of  longevity,  the  gout. 

"  Believe  me,  dear  Davenport, 

"  Ever  your  obliged  friend, 

"  Reginald  Heber." 


WAR  IN  RUSSIA.  :387 


To  John  Thornton  Esq. 

High  Lake,  Oct.  10th,  1812. 

"  My  Dear  Friend, 

"  After  four  weeks  sea-bathing,  I  am  now  about,  to 
my  great  joy,  to  turn  my  face  homewards.  Though  perhaps  a 
httle  weakened  by  the  quantity  of  mercury  I  have  taken,  I  am  on 
the  whole  better  than  I  have  been  for  a  long  time ;  and  as  far  as 
one  can  judge  from  outward  appearance,  entirely  recovered  from 
my  tormenting  complaint ;  whether  my  present  freedom  will  con- 
tinue I  know  not;  but  I  owe  very  great  gratitude  indeed  to  God  for 
this  relief,  and  for  the  continuance  of  my  general  health  under  a 
weakening  course  of  medicines.  We  have  not  lost  sight  of  the 
hope  you  so  kindly  held  out  of  passing  a  few  days  with  us  in 
October ;  and  I  now  write  chiefly  to  remind  you  that  October  is 
arrived,  and  that  we  shall  be  at  home  again  this  day  fortnight,  for 
the  rest  of  the  year. 

•'  This  year  has  been  to  me  a  year  of  wandering  and  non- 
residence  ;  but  I  may  safely  say  that  neither  the  one  nor  the  other 
has  been  from  choice,  nor  prolonged  a  single  day  beyond  the  ne- 
cessity imposed  by  my  ill  health. 

"  We  have  all  here  been  greatly  surprised  and  shocked  at  the 
termination  of  the  supposed  victory  of  the  Russians  ;  yet,  that 
Alexander  has  had  the  fortitude  to  abandon  Moscow,  and  to  ad- 
here so  long  to  the  system  of  defence  originally  intended,  is  surely 
a  good  sign.  I  conclude  the  next  line  of  defence  will  be  the 
Volga  between  Yaroslav  and  Kostroma,  by  which  means  their  com- 
munication with  Petersburg  will  be  preserved.  Which  of  us  could 
have  believed,  when  we  witnessed  the  wolf-hunt  on  those  wide 
frozen  waters,  that  the  cuirassiers  of  France  would  ever  let  their 
horses  drink  there  ?  For  the  fate  of  Moscow,  I  confess  I  feel  very 
keenly  ;  I  cannot  without  sorrow  fancy  to  myself  any  one  of  those 
wooden  houses  where  we  were  so  hospitably  received,  a  prey  to 
flames  and  military  plunder,   and  I  can  even  jiity  Latombelle's 

3  D  2 


CHAP. 

xn. 

1812. 


WAR  IN  RUSSIA. 


CHAP,    hotel,  and  the  vile  hovel  of  Mon.  Makarof.      I  wonder  whether 


XII 


1812-  RoufFe  was  one  of  the  three  thousand  ruffians  let  loose  from  the 
prisons,  or  whether  young  V  *  *  wore  my  stolen  sword-belt  in 
the  first  ranks  at  Borodino. 

"  I  feel  a  more  real  interest  in  asking  whether  your  prospects 
are  materially  affected  by  this  progress  of  the  French.  As  I  know 
from  your  former  letters  you  anticipated  even  a  still  greater  ad- 
vance on  their  part,  I  flatter  myself  they  are  not ;  and  I  trust  that 
if  the  Russian  armies  still  maintain  a  formidable  front,  their  Scythian 
system  of  substituting  extent  of  country  for  defensible  features  may, 
joined  to  the  superiority  one  would  think  they  possessed  in  hght 
cavalry,  compel  the  French  to  a  final  retreat.         * 


* 


*****  *  If  possible 

contrive  to  give  us  the  pleasure  of  seeing  you.  I  have  always 
much  to  consult  you  about ;  and  it  is  now  so  long  since  we  met 
that  I  wish  for  you  more  than  ever." 


To  R.  J.  Wilmot,  Esq. 

Moreton,  Nov.  12,  1812. 
*      Canning,  you  find,  has  got  a  retaining 


<<   * 


fee  from  Manchester  as  well  as  Liverpool.  All  these  successes  of 
his  are  wormwood  to  both  whig  and  tory  in  this  neighbourhood;  the 
one  fearing  the  rival  of  the  ])resent  ministers  and  the  friend  of  the 
Catholics  ;  the  other,  the  pupil  of  Mr.  Pitt's.  He  has  received  a 
considerable  accession  of  talent  and  reputation  in  Ward,  who  has 
now  formally  announced  his  intention  of  joming  him ;  and  Worsely 
Holmes  has,  I  understand,  given  the  entire  disposal  of  his  boroughs 
(two  or  three  seats  he  has)  to  Lord  Wellesley. 

"  While  you  are  regretting  not  being  a  representative  in  the 
present  parliament,  you  will  laugh  to  find  that  I  am  one  of 
the  proctors  nominated  to  my  archdeaconry,  out  of  whose  number 
a  representative  is  to  be  chosen  for  the  clergy  in  convocation. 


LETTER  TO  R.  J.  WILMOT,  ESQ.  889 

There  was  a  time  when  this  election  was  a  matter  of  warm  can-     chap. 

1         .  ,  .  .  .    .  ,  . ,  XII. 

vassmg  and  active  ambition  ;  it  is  now  only  considered  as  the  cause      '^'2. 

of  a  troublesome  journey  to  Lichfield,  and  does  not  even,  as  I  first 

fancied  it  might,  exempt  me  from  residence.  *  * 

*  *  «  « 

*  *  *  « 

"  I  am  strongly  recommended  by  Heber  to  proceed  in  my 
'  Dictionaire  Historique  Critique,'  vdthout,  however,  giving  up  my 
Bampton  lecture  scheme,  or  Ganore.  For  the  dictionary  I  am 
collecting  the  necessary  books  of  reference  ;  the  principal  of  which 
is  a  collection  of  tracts  on  Scriptural  antiquities,  which  I  must 
endeavour  to  get  fi-om  Italy,  contained  in  thirty-four  folio  volumes  ; 
in  the  mean  time  I  go  on  with  paradigms  of  Arabic,  &c. 

"  Ever  your  obliged  friend, 

"  Reginald  Heber." 

To  R.  J.  Wilmot,  Esq. 

Moreion,  Dec.  5, 1812. 
"  *  *  *  I  received  your  packet  last  night,  and  I  have 
not  yet  had  time  to  examine  either  of  its  contents.  *  *  It  is  a 
curious  portrait  which  you  give  of  Mr.  Gyles ;  a  theological  work 
by  an  esquhe  is  not  common  in  these  days  of  statistics  and  calcula- 
tions, and  I  shall  feel  very  anxious  to  see  whether  he  is  orthodox. 
I  am  a  good  deal  vexed  with  GifFord ;  after  I  had  toiled  to  get 
my  Swedish  review  in  time,  he  postponed  it  to  another  num- 
ber'. Havmg  at  present  only  three  great  works  on  my  hands, 
I  have  some  thoughts  of  setting  up  '  the  Drayton  Quarterly,  or 
Salopian  Register,'  in  opposition  ;  and  shall  request  your  contribu- 
tion m  politics.  Dr.  Butler's  (of  Shrewsbury)  in  Greek,  Davenport's 
in  ItaHan  literature,  and  Tom  Smythe  in  belles  lettres  and  poetry. 
Has  not  the  scheme  a  promising  face  ?  As  to  Russian  politics,  as 
my  hopes  never  were  so  high  as  some  of  my  neighbours',  I  am  dis- 

'  "  Last  years  of  the  reign  of  Gustavus  Adolplius  the  Fourth,  late  king  of  Sweden." — 
Quarterly  Review,  1813. 


390  WAR  IN  RUSSIA. 


CHAP,  posed  to  be  very  well  contented  with  the  disastrous  retreat  and  loss 
'812"  of  reputation  experienced  by  Buonaparte.  If  he  persist  in  trying 
another  invasion,  via  Petersburg,  he  certainly  will  have  no  oppor- 
tunity of  advancing  even  a  verst  before  Easter ;  and  at  whatever 
time  he  set  out,  the  country  in  that  direction  is  far  better  qualified 
for  the  Wellingtonian  system  of  retreat,  than  that  between  Smo- 
lensk and  Moscow ;  yet  I  do  not  doubt  that  the  same  alarms  will 
be  raised  and  believed,  as  were  believed  at  the  beginning  of  the 
campaign  which  is  now  at  its  close. 

"  Dr.  Butler  of  Shrewsbury  gives  a  most  flaming  account  of 
Lucien  Buonaparte's  poem,  which  he  has  read,  and  which  he  sets  on 
the  same  parallel  with  Ariosto !  Is  not  this  a  marvellous  age  in 
which  Ave  live  ?  a  poor  pai'son  like  myself,  who  writes  a  dictionary 
and  preaches  a  Bampton  lecture,  has  no  chance  for  notoriety  among 
these  Deos  Majorum  Gentium^ 

To  John  Thornton,  Esq. 

Moreton,  December,  1812. 

"  I  certainly  never  expected  our  old  Russian  hosts  would 
have  made  so  good  a  fight,  though  I  appi-ehend  this  uncommonly 
hard  and  early  frost  will  materially  assist  the  retreat  of  Buonaparte's 
army,  and  that  the  reports  of  their  being  surrounded  are  decidedly 
premature.  This  has  been  on  the  whole  a  very  singular  campaign  ; 
in  some  respects  it  bears  a  slight  resemblance  to  the  inroad  of 
Darius  Hystaspes  into  the  same  country,  when  occupied  by  the 
Scythians ;  but  it  offers  some  still  more  striking  points  of  compa- 
rison with  the  memorable  invasion  of  Persia  by  Julian  the  Apos- 
tate. The  only  differences  are,  that  there  heat,  here  cold,  has 
been  the  agent  of  destruction ;  and  that  the  modern  Julian  has  not 
yet  met  with  his  death  wound.  Apropos  of  Persia  and  Russia,  I 
have  been,  at  different  times  during  the  summer,  projecting  a  half 
religious,  half  descriptive  poem,  to  be  called  "  The  Desert,"  giving 
an  account  of  the  snider  features  of  nature,  as  displayed  in  differ- 
ent latitudes.     Much  might  be  said  about  the  steppes,  which  we 


"  DICTIONARY  OF  THE  BIBLE."  GtH 

ourselves  have  traversed,  and  the  fine  woods  of  Oesterdal  and    t"  \p- 

Xll. 

Dovre ;  and  Bruce  affords  some  noble  painting  of  the  wilderness  of  _i8'-*_ 
tropical  climates.  One  might,  too,  find  Cossaks,  Laplanders, 
Arabs,  Mohawks  and  Israelites  as  moving  objects  in  the  picture  in 
their  several  compartments,  and  describe  the  hand  of  Providence 
as  displayed  in  the  support  and  comfort  of  each.  What  will  come 
of  it  I,  as  yet,  hardly  know.  I  have  given  up  the  translation  of 
Klopstock's  Messiah,  from  a  real  doubt  how  far  we  may  venture 
to  attribute  to  so  awefial  a  Being,  at  such  a  moment,  words  and 
actions  of  our  own  invention.  My  main  project,  however,  and  on 
which  I  work  hard  a  part  of  every  day,  is  a  sort  of  critical  dic- 
tionary ^f  the  Bible,  which,  if  I  ever  finish  it,  will  supply  on  an 
enlarged  scale,  the  defects  of  Calmet ;  and  even  if  I  do  not,  makes 
me  more  and  more  familiar  with  those  books  which  it  should  be 
the  business  of  my  life  to  study. 

"  I  often  wish  for  you  here,  and  while  I  was  ill  I  thought  of 
you  very  often.  I  have  much  reason  to  be  thankful  for  the  excel- 
lent friends  wliich,  besides  my  own  family,  Heaven  has  blest  me 
with ;  but  I  feel  it  as  very  unfortunate  that  the  earliest  of  them  is 
placed  at  such  a  distance  from  me. 

"  Ever  yoiu"  obliged  friend, 

"  Reginald  Heber." 


To  R.  J.  Wilmot,  Esq. 

Mmeton,  March  16,  1813. 

"  I  w^as  disappointed  at  not  seeing  your  memory  article  in  the 
present  number  of  the  Quarterly  ;  Heber  says,  however,  that  it  is 
at  last  in  print  and  ready  for  the  next.  Owing  to  the  misfortune 
of  mislaying  Thornton's  letter,  I  had  not,  after  all,  my  song  ready 
for  his  father's  Russian  dinner ;  a  piece  of  apparent  negligence 
which  has  caused  me  much  vexation,  as  I  was,  on  my  own  account, 
ambitious  of  doing  the  thing  well,  and  as  my  failure  in  performing 
my  promise  may  well  make  him  seriously  angry.  How  often  have 
I  resolved  to  be  more  careful  and  circumspect  in  my  dealings  in 


39-2  LETTER  TO  JOHN  THORNTON,  ESQ. 

CHAP,  future,  and  how  often  have  I  broken  my  resolution !  Seriously,  I 
i»t3.  often  fear  when  I  am  in  low  spirits,  as  is  the  case  at  this  moment, 
that  for  want  of  steadiness,  whatever  I  begin  will  never  come  to 
any  good ;  and  now  that  your  example  (which  certainly  used  to 
stimulate  me)  is  taken  out  of  the  way,  you  will  hear  of  me  pre- 
sently subsiding  into  your  friend's  description  of  a  country  magis- 
trate, *  a  ruminating  animal  busied  about  turnpike  roads.'       *       * 


To  John  Thornton^  Esq. 

May,  1813. 

"  I  had  hoped,  my  dear  friend,   to  have  been  able  in  my 
present  letter  to  promise  myself  the   pleasure   of  soon    seeing 
you   and   your   family   in    London,    as   we   had    been    for   some 
months  proposing  such  a  jaunt  this  spring.     The  building,  how- 
ever, in  which  I  am  engaged,   and  my  other  expences,  ordinary 
and  extraordinary,  unite  to  condemn  us  to  one  year  more  of  retire- 
ment.    It  is,  in  fact,  a  problem,  which  my  building  expences  by 
no  means  entirely  solve,  how  it  happens,  that  ^dth  no  expensive 
habit  that  I  know  of  in  either  of  us,  and  with  an  income  beyond 
even  our  wishes,  we  have  never  succeeded  in  having  that  best  sort 
of  abundance  which  arises  from  living  within  one's  income.     Partly 
this  arises,  I  believe,  from  the  habits  of  Shropshire,  where  the  ex- 
pence  of  a  servants'  hall  is  considerably  more  than  that  of  the  par- 
lour, and  partly  from  my  own  habits  of  heedlessness,  which  I  fear 
I  am  not  hkely  to  get  the  better  of. 

"  It  is  very  foolish,  perhaps ;  but  I  own  I  sometimes  think  that 
I  am  not  thrown  into  that  situation  of  life  for  which  I  am  best  qua- 
lified. I  am  in  a  sort  of  half-way  station,  between  a  parson  and  a 
squire  ;  condemned,  in  spite  of  myself,  to  attend  to  the  duties  of 
the  latter,  while  yet  I  neither  do  nor  can  attend  to  them  suffi- 
ciently ;  nor  am  I  quite  sure  that  even  my  literary  habits  are  well- 
suited  to  the  situation  of  a  country  clergyman.  I  have  sometimes 
felt  an  unwilHngness  in  quitting  my  books  for  the  care  of  my  pa- 
rish ;  and  have  been  tempted  to  fancy  that,  as  my  studies  are  Scrip- 


LETTER  TO  JOHN  THORNTON,  ESQ.  393 


tural,  I  was  not  neglecting  my  duty.  Yet  I  must  not,  and  cannot,  <^hap. 
deceive  myself;  the  duties  which  I  am  paid  to  execute,  have  cer-  i«i3' 
tainly  the  first  claim  on  my  attention  ;  and  while  other  pursuits  are 
my  amusement,  these  are  properly  my  calling.  Probably,  had  I 
not  been  a  scholar,  other  pursuits,  or  other  amusements,  would 
have  stepped  in,  and  I  should  have  been  exposed  to  equal  or 
gi-eater  temptations ;  but,  I  confess,  when  I  consider  how  much  I 
might  have  done,  and  how  little,  comparatively,  I  have  done  in  my 
parish,  I  sometimes  am  inclined  to  think  that  a  fondness  for  study 
is  an  unfortunate  predilection  for  one  who  is  the  pastor  of  so  many 
people.  The  improvement  of  my  parish  does  not  correspond  to 
those  pleasant  dreams  with  which  I  entered  on  my  office.  My 
neighbours  profess  to  esteem  me  ;  but  an  easy  temper  will,  in  this 
respect,  go  a  great  way.  I  write  sermons,  and  have  moderately 
good  congregations ;  but  not  better  than  I  had  on  first  commencing 
my  career.  The  schools,  &c.  which  I  projected,  are  all  compara- 
tively at  a  stand-still ;  and  I  am  occasionally  disposed  to  fancy  that 
a  man  cannot  attend  to  two  pursuits  at  once,  and  that  it  will  be  at 
length  necessary  to  burn  my  books,  like  the  early  converts  to  Chris- 
tianity ;  and,  since  Providence  has  called  me  to  a  station  which  so 
many  men  regard  with  envy,  to  give  my  undivided  attention  to  the 
duties  which  it  requires. 

"  Wilmot,  whom,  next  to  yourself,  I  esteem  and  love  most 
warmly,  tells  me  that  with  method  and  a  little  resolution,  I  may 
arrange  all  that  I  have  to  do,  so  as  that  one  pursuit  shall  not  inter- 
fere with  another.  I  wish  1  knew  how,  or  that,  knowing  how,  I 
had  firmness  to  follow  it.  If  you  and  your  family  would  pass  a 
part  of  your  summer  here,  you  might,  like  a  college  Visitor,  correct 
what  you  found  amiss  ;  and  you  need  not  be  told  that  I  shall  listen 
to  no  suggestions  with  so  much  readiness  as  yours.  Possibly,  for 
I  will  own  that  I  am  in  a  gloomy  humour,  I  exaggerate  circum- 
stances ;  but  a  day  seldom  passes  without  my  being  more  or  less 
affected  by  them.  On  the  whole,  perhaps,  such  repinings  at  the 
imperfect  manner  in  which  our  duties  are  performed,  are  necessary 
parts  of  our  discipline,  and  such  as  we  can  never  hope  to  get  rid 
VOL.  I.  3   E 


394  OEDIPUS  JUDAICUS. 


CHAP.  of.  Do  not,  however,  blame  me  for  bestowing  (as  Dogberry  says) 
i«i3-  all  my  tediousness  upon  you,  but  retaliate,  when  you  have  time, 
by  a  letter  equally  long,  and  equally  egotistical. 

"  I  conclude  you  have  rubbed  up  all  your  Russian  to  converse 
with  the  Cossak ;  had  he  been  the  serjeant  who  accompanied  us 
to  Ecatherinodar,  I  should  have  been  delighted  to  renew  the  ac- 
quaintance. Gilford,  the  Quarterly  Reviewer,  says  all  the  world 
are  Cossak-mad,  and  wants  me  to  furnish  him  with  a  short  article 
on  the  subject,  for  the  next  number  of  the  Review.  1  have  not 
yet  begun  it,  and  know  not  whether  I  shall  have  time.  I  had 
previously  offered  a  review  of  Sir  W.  Drummond's  Oedipus  Judaicus, 
a  very  wicked  and  foolish  book,  which  its  author  has,  in  order  to 
escape  the  reviewers,  only  circulated  privately  ;  on  this  account  my 
offer  was  declined.  D'Oyley,  of  Bennet  college,  has  since  answered 
him  very  well ;  and  a  third  person,  I  know  not  who,  has  offered  to 
review  D'Oyley ;  so  that  I  am  able  at  present  to  attend  pretty 
closely  to  my  dictionary,  and  to  the  eastern  languages  and  cus- 
toms. The  necessity  of  makmg  weekly  sermons  I  feel  pretty 
heavily ;  but,  alas  !  this  preference  of  my  amusements  to  my  espe- 
cial duties,  is  the  very  feehng  of  which  I  complained. 

"  I  am  aware  that  you  are  busy,  and  cannot  write  often  ;  but 
when  you  know  how  much  pleasure  your  letters  give,  you  ^\ill,  I 
am  sure,  occasionally  send  me  one.     God  bless  you ! 

"  Reginald  Heber." 

To  E.  D.  Davenport,  Esq. 

Tunhridge  Wells,  Jiote  2Wi,  1813. 
"  My  Dear  Davenport, 

"  I  was  so  hurried  during  my  two  days  stay  in  town, 
that,  however  unwillingly,  I  was  obliged  to  give  up  calling  on  you 
to  learn  your  intentions  respecting  Tunbridge.  We  are  now  com- 
fortably settled  here,  and  find  the  place  really  very  pretty,  and,  as 
we  were  told  we  should,  quiet.  The  gaieties,  however,  such  as 
they  are,  are  now  likely  to  commence,  as  this  is  the  usual  begin- 


LETTER  TO  R.  J.  WILMOT,  ESQ.  395 


iiing  of  their  season.  Our  gaiety  will  certainly  be  much  increased  crkv. 
if  you  still  persevere  in  your  intention  of  coming  here.  There  are  isi^. 
at  present  7naintes  good  lodgings  to  be  had  of  all  dimensions ;  we 
have  a  small  house,  which,  like  the  other  iscles  minorum  gentkim  at 
watering-places,  is  too  small  to  enable  vis  to  offer  you  an  apartment, 
though  not  too  small  to  admit  of  our  messing  together.  We  shall 
stay  here  a  month.  If,  during  that  time  you  think  of  coming  down, 
we  will,  on  due  notice,  get  you  lodgings,  though  we  should  rather 
recommend  your  coming  to  choose  for  yourself  Next  door  to  us 
is  a  cottage,  which  I  should,  on  many  accounts,  recommend,  were 
it  not  that  the  situation,  though  very  beautiful,  is  more  retired 
than  a  man  who  comes  to  Tunbridge  for  a  week  or  so  to  amuse 
himself,  would  perhaps  wish ;  though  for  contrary  reasons  it  suits 
us  admirably.  I  have  contrived  to  get  a  violent  cold  and  de- 
fluxion  in  my  eyes,  or  rather  from  them,  which  makes  writing  at 
present  rather  a  duty  than  a  pleasure.  Fortunately,  I  have  green 
woods  and  fields  to  look  at,  and  shall  therefore,  I  hope,  soon  be 

well. 

"  Believe  me  my  dear  friend, 

"  Ever  truly  your's, 

"  Reginald  Heber." 

To  R.  J.  Wilmot,  Esq. 

Tunbridge  Wells,  July  ISfh,  1813. 

"  We  have  now  been  three  weeks  at  Tunbridge,  which  is 
really  a  far  prettier  and  more  agreeable  place  than  I  expected, 
with  less  of  gossip  and  the  other  distastes  of  a  watering-place  than 
generally  make  up  our  idea  of  such  situations,  and  with  a  very 
shady  and  hilly  neighbourhood,  affording  many  interesting  rides- 
I  am  the  more  inclined  to  hke  it  since  there  is,  at  present,  pretty 
strong  appearance  that  om*  stay  will  be  lengthened  beyond  the 
month  which  was  originally  talked  of,  as  Emily  has  certainly 
profited  by  the  experiment,  and  I  apprehend  her  physician 
mil,    as  usual,  urge    her   to  a  longer  trial.     This    circumstance 

3  E  2 


396  LETTER  TO  R.  J.  WILMOT,  ESQ. 


CHAP,  alone  would  unfortunately  discomfit  all  our  hopes  of  being  parties 
1813.'  to  the  delightful  plan  which  you  mention  in  your  last  letter. 
There  are  indeed  so  many  imperious  calls,  to  me  to  hurry  back,  as 
soon  as  I  am  at  liberty,  into  Shropshire,  that  from  the  first  moment 
of  receiving  your  very  kind  invitation  to  join  your  party,  I  hardly 
dared  hope  to  do  it.  I  have,  it  is  true,  still  some  time  to  spare  out 
of  the  three  months  of  absence  which  the  law  allows  me  from  my 
living ;  and  as  my  wife's  health  is  concerned,  might  doubtless  plead 
it  as  an  excuse ;  but  I  cannot  help  feeling  that  conscience  as  well 
as  law  is  to  be  attended  to ;  and  even  so  far  as  ambition  is  con- 
cerned, and  the  pvusuit  of  my  regular  studies,  I  find  that  I  have 
been  already  too  long  from  home.  Even  here,  however,  my  time 
has  not  been  entirely  lost,  as  by  good  fortune  the  circulatmg  library 
has  furnished  me  with  Volney  and  other  oriental  travels,  with 
which,  though  I  was  slightly  versed  in  them  before,  I  have  seized 
the  opportunity  of  being  better  acquainted,  and  have  gained  from 
them  considerable  accessions  to  my  common-place  book. 

"  You  will  be  surprised  to  learn  that  I  have  had,  since  my 
arrival  here,  an  offer  of  a  prebendary  of  Durham  in  exchange  for 
Hodnet.  This  is  an  exchange  which,  notwithstanding  the  differ- 
ence of  income,  I  should,  on  some  accounts,  be  disposed  to  like;  but 
as  I  believe  that  such  a  measure  would  neither  be  agreeable  to  my 
brothers,  nor  consistent  with  my  regard  for  their  interests,  I  de- 
clined it,  reserving  merely  the  power  of  applying  to  the  person  who 
made  the  offer,  in  case  circumstances  should  induce  me  to 
change  my  mind.  It  is  whimsical  that  when  we  were  last  talking 
about  my  ambitious  views,  I  mentioned  to  you  my  liking  for  a  pre- 
bendary of  the  sort  which  has  now  been  thi'own  in  my  way. 


"  Believe  me,  my  dear  friend, 

"  Ever  your's  truly, 

"  Reginald  Heber.' 


MADAJME  DE  STAEL.  397 


To  John  Thornton,  Esq. 

Moreton,  August  9, 1813. 
"  We  had  the  pleasure  of  getting  safe  and  well  to  our  parish 
last  Saturday  ;  and  I  yesterday  found  myself  restored  to  my  usual 
scene  of  duties  and  interests,  which  I  find  considerably  endeared 
to  me  by  this  temporary  cessation.  I  was,  I  own,  before  our  late 
excursion,  growing  listless,  and  almost  discontented  with  my  situa- 
tion, and  the  little  apparent  good  which  my  exertions  brought 
about.  I  am  now,  I  trust,  cured ;  at  least  I  feel  no  small  degree 
of  my  original  sanguine  disposition  returning,  and  could  even 
fancy  that  I  was  listened  to  with  more  attention  yesterday  than  I 
attracted  during  the  spring.  This  is,  perhaps,  mere  fancy ;  but 
the  same  feeling  has  thrown  a  sort  of  charm  over  many  of  the 
objects  which  had  lost  their  value  from  my  being  accustomed  to 
them ;  and  from  my  pulpit  and  my  new  building,  down  to  the  little 
domestic  arrangements  of  my  present  habitation,  and  the  '  deside- 
rato  requiescere  in  lecto,'  I  find  every  thing  more  comfortable 
than  when  I  left  it.  This  stimvdus  to  my  spirits  I  owe  to  my  late 
excursion ;  and  if  this  were  all  I  should  have  reason  to  rejoice  in 
it ;  but  it  has,  in  other  respects,  caused  both  Emily  and  myself  so 
much  unmixed  pleasure,  that,  even  if  her  health  is  not  improved, 
we  are  still  gainers.  We  have  seen  more  of  you  and  your  family 
than  we  have  done  since  our  marriage ;  and  I  confess  that  I 
began  to  feel  the  long  interval  which  had  elapsed  mthout  our 
meeting  as  a  serious  vexation  ;  nor,  indeed,  is  there  any  drawback 
to  our  present  comforts  but  the  distance  at  which  we  are  thrown 
from  some  of  our  best  friends.  Next  year,  as  we  cannot  get  to 
you,  I  do  hope  you  will  come  to  us. 

****** 
****** 

"  Madame  de  Stael,  to  whom  we  were  introduced  the  day 
after  we  left  Tunbridge,  said  a  good  thing  on  the  style  of  London 
parties,  which  she  called  '  une  societe  mix  coups  de  poing.'     I  told 


CHAP. 
XII. 
181. "5. 


398  LETTER  TO  R.  J.  WILMOT,  ESQ. 


CHAP,    her  R.  G 's  idea  of  the  female  slave  trade ;  but  though  she 

i«i3-  understood  the  mercantile  part  of  the  idea,  I  do  not  think  she  was 
sufficiently  acquainted  with  the  arrangements  of  a  slave  ship  to 
feel  the  wit  of  the  comparison,  as  to  crowding,  pressure,  &c.  We 
met  her  three  times,  and  I  had  a  good  deal  of  conversation  with 
her.  She  is  so  little  different  in  appearance,  manner,  and  general 
conversation  from  many  foreign  women,  that  I  could  have  fancied 
myself  once  or  twice  talking  to  la  foUe  Gargarin.  She  is,  however, 
better  mannered,  and  more  feminine  and  sensible  than  that  worthy 
personage,  and  I  think  you  would  like  her.  She  is  not  handsome, 
but,  certainly,  not  ugly  for  her  time  of  life. 

"  From  town  we  started  on  Monday  se'nnight ;     *  * 

******** 

*  *  *  *  we  had  good  weather  all  the 

journey,  and  the  satisfaction  of  seeing  very  promising  crops  in  all 
the  counties  which  we  traversed." 

To  R.  J.  Wilmot,  Esq. 

Moreton,  August  21,  1813. 

"  We  set  out  homewards,  via  Oxford  and  Gloucester,  the 
day  after  we  dined  with  you,  and  arrived  at  Moreton  after  a  pros- 
perous tour  of  a  fortnight,  only  breaking  two  springs  of  our  gig 
by  the  way,  and  seeing  the  splendid  Cathedrals  of  Gloucester, 
Tewkesbury,  and  Worcester;  the  deep  and  rapid  river  Severn, 
(which,  like  a  cow's  tail,  grows  smaller  the  further  it  recedes  from  its 
source,  being  a  noble  stream  at  Bridgenorth,  and  a  very  paltry  one 
at  Gloucester  and  Tewksbury)  together  with  all  the  usual  lions  of 
Colebrook  Dale,  which  Emily  had  never  visited  before,  and  which 
1  had  not  seen  for  so  long  a  time  that  I  enjoyed  all  the  pleasure  of 
novelty.  Since  our  return  we  have  been  staying  quietly  at  home, 
observing  the  small  progress  made  during  our  absence  in  the 
finishing  of  our  new  house,  and  alternately  elated  and  depressed 
with  agrestic  hopes  and  apprehensions,  as  the  weather-glass  has 
risen  or  sunk. 


MADAME  DE  STAEL.  399 


¥^  ^  ¥^  ^ 


* 

* 

* 

* 

* 

* 

* 

* 

« 

* 

* 

* 

* 

* 

* 

* 

* 

* 

1813. 


"  Our  neighbours,  the  Hills,  have  been,  of  course,  in  great  ^'^{f- 
anxiety  during  the  long  interval  of  suspense  between  the  first  and 
second  accounts  of  the  late  battle.  Sir  John's  four  sons  are,  how- 
ever, all  safe.  I  felt  very  anxious  on  another  account,  as  I  could 
not  help  thinking,  that  if  Lord  Wellington  had  not  beaten  Soult 
very  decidedly  indeed,  he  must  have  been  obliged  to  fall  back  to 
the  Ebro,  abandoning  both  Pamplona  and  St.  Sebastian.  At 
present  there  is  nothing  apparently  to  regret,  except  the  heavy 
loss  of  lives.  An  intimate  friend  of  Heber's,  James  Stanhope,  is 
among  the  wounded.     Did  you  see  Madame  La  Baronne  ?      *     * 


"  Adieu ;  be  healthy,  be  prosperous,  and  do  not  forget  me. 
"  Heber  tells  me  your  article  on  memory  is  very  generally 
well  spoken  of" 

7'o  R.  J.  Wilmot,  Esq. 

Moreton,  September  14,  1813. 

"  My  Dear  Wilmot, 

"  I  have  been  too  much  occupied  by  a  sermon  for 
the  Bible  Society,  which  I  had  to  preach  at  Shrewsbury,  to  think 
of  any  thing  else ;  so  that  I  am  grievously  in  arrear  both  to  you 
and  Gifford,  whose  Cossaks  are  still  in  mid-campaign,  and  making 
very  little  progress.  For  yourself,  who  have  been  dancing  like  a 
sun-beam  on  the  wave,  or  refi'eshing  your  fancy  ^dth  French  no- 
vels, I  apprehend  you  also  have  had  little  time  for  Madame  La 
Baronne's  book,  wliich,  though  eloquent,  contains,  I  think,  but 
little  that  is  very  new,  except  the  daring  forgery  of  Lady  Jane 
Grey's  letter.  What  a  strange  fancy  to  make  poor  old  Roger 
Ascham  (whose  name  she  cannot  spell)  the  bearer  of  '  a  box  of 
poison  strong ;'   or  to  make  Lady  Jane  talk  of  the  beauty  of  the 

12 


400  POEM  ON  GUSTAVUS  VASA. 


CHAP,    prospect  from  the  Tower  garden !     It  is  still,  however,  a  pretty 
i»i3.      letter,  and  is  calculated  to  give  one  a  very  favourable  idea  of  the 
character  of  its  writer. 

"  I  have  just  met  with  a  phenomenon  which  has  consider- 
ably surprised  me,  in  an  epic  poem  on  Gustavus  Vasa,  by  an 
Eton  boy  of  seventeen,  named  Walker.  You  will  laugh  at  the 
idea,  and  so  at  first  did  I ;  but  on  carelessly  looking  it  over  to  en- 
able me  to  answer  the  questions  of  the  lady  who  lent  it  me,  I 
have  found  so  much  skill  in  the  construction  of  liis  verse,  and  so 
many  passages  of  lively  and  powerful  description,  as  give  promise 
of  something  very  good  indeed  hereafter.  Many  parts  will  not 
shrink  from  a  comparison  with  Pope's  translation  of  the  Thebaicl  at 
the  same  age.  The  story,  as  he  has  told  it,  is  childish ;  and  there 
is,  as  might  be  expected,  a  boyish  ambition  of  introducing  celestial 
I  machinery,  such  as  angels  and  the  Supreme  Being,  whicli  are  not 
'  happily  introduced,  and  are  weapons  too  ponderous  for  him  to 
manage ;  but  even  this  ambition,  at  his  age,  is  no  bad  sign.  I  do 
not  advise  you  to  buy  the  book,  but  I  do  strenuously  recommend 
your  borrowing  it,  as  it  is  really  a  curiosity.  You,  as  an  old  Eto- 
nian, will  probably  be  able  to  learn  who  the  boy  is,  and  whether 
he  is  thought  clever  in  other  respects. 

"  What  a  disappointing  result  to  our  hopes  on  the  continent ! 
I  do  not  indeed  apprehend  that  the  fate  of  the  campaign  can  en- 
tirely depend  on  this  failure,  though  Berlin  will  be  lost  by  it,  as 
Buonaparte  will  now  be  enabled  to  detach  so  strong  a  corps  against 
Bernadotte  as  to  compell  his  retreat ;  but  how  mortifying  it  is  to 
think,  that  had  Buonaparte's  return  from  Silesia  been  retarded  a 
single  day,  he  would  have  been  in  a  state  more  disastrous  than 
Peter  the  First  at  Pruth.  And  so  the  Austrians  are  again  beaten 
by  their  old  plan  of  extending  their  wings  too  much.  '  Bray  a 
fool  in  a  mortar,'  saith  Solomon,  '  yet  will  not  his  folly  depart 
from  him.' 

"  I  envy  you  very  much  both  your  water-parties  and  your  re- 
newed intercovirse  with — ,  whose  society,  from  the  little  I 

have  seen,  and  the  much  I  have  heard  of  him,  must  be  very  agree- 


BIBLE  SOCIETY.  401 

able.     Do  not,  however,  allow  that  philosophic  indolence  of  which    chap. 
you  talk,  to  seduce  you.  »  *  *  *  »      jgis. 

*  *  *        A  merely  theoretic  life  must  inevitably  grow 

tiresome  in  the  long-run ;  and  though  there  may  be  fatigue,  and 
will  be  disappomtment  wherever  there  is  ambition,  yet  its  enjoy- 
ments are,  I  apprehend,  keener  than  its  regrets.  Nor  is  this  all ; 
an  active  and  busy  man  is  not  only  happier,  but  better  than  an 
idle  one.  ******* 

God  bless  you !" 

7'o  John  Thornton,  Esq. 

Moreton,  September  14, 1813. 

"  The  last  bulletin  from  the  continent  has  disappointed  me 
sadly ;  not  that,  from  the  face  of  events,  it  appears  to  have  at  all 
decided  the  fate  of  the  campaign  ;  but  because  it  is  the  failure  of 
an  enterprize  which,  if  successful,  would  have  reduced  Buonaparte 
to  greater  straits  than  he  has  ever  been  before,  and  which,  appa- 
rently, nothing  but  a  rapid  march  of  the  guards  from  Silesia  to 
Dresden  has  enabled  him  to  avert.  An  ordinary  general  would, 
doubtless,  have  been  undone  ;  Buonaparte  has  turned  this  destruc- 
tion on  his  ensnarers. 


Woe  to  liiin  !  he  hath  laid  his  toils 


To  take  the  antelope, 
The  Hon  is  come  in  ! 


u  *    *    * 


I  preached  a  Bible  Society  sermon,  on  Sunday  the  5th, 
at  Shrewsbury,  to  a  numerous  and  attentive,  though  not  very  liberal, 
congregation.  The  archdeacon,  all  the  Evangelical  and  several  of 
the  other  clergy,  with  a  great  body  of  squirearchy,  as  Cobbett  calls 
them,  form  our  society ;  there  are  some,  also,  of  the  old  dissenters 
and  baptists ;  but  of  the  methodists,  so  few  are  subscribers  that  this 
last  year  only  one  name  could  be  found  of  sufficient  respectability 
to  be  placed  on  the  committee.  A  few  sensible  men  still  continue 
VOL.  r.  3  F 


402  WILKINS'  "  SIEGE  OF  JERUSALEM." 

CHAP,     to  oppose  us;   some  of  them  were  among  my  hearers,  but  whether 
1813:      I  have  converted  them  I  do  not  know." 


To  the  Rev.  George  Wilkins. 

Moreton,  October  20,  1813, 

"  My  Dear  Sir, 

"  I  ought  to  apologize  for  keeping  your  manuscript ' 
so  long  ;  but  as  my  engagements  were,  at  the  time  of  my  receiving 
it,  very  numerous,  and  as  I  felt  myself  not  so  well  versed  in  many 
parts  of  Josephus  as  I  ought  to  be,  I  deferred  undertaking  its 
perusal  till  I  had  time  to  do  it  with  real  attention ;  and  till  this 
deficiency  on  my  own  part  should  be  remedied,  or,  at  least,  till  I 
had  refreshed  my  memory  in  the  principal  part  of  the  high  priest's 
narrative.  You  will  observe  that,  according  to  my  promise,  I  have 
read  over  your  history  with  a  very  attentive  and  a  tolerably  severe 
eye;  and  I  can  honestly  assvu-e  you  that  I  have  not  knowingly 
passed  over  any  material  fault  or  incorrectness  either  of  fact  or 
style.  I  have  not  been  equally  exact  in  noting  such  passages  as  I 
approved  of,  because  every  author  is  pretty  well  able  to  find  out 
his  own  beauties ;  and  it  is  the  most  useful,  though  certainly  the 
most  ungracious  part  which  a  friend  can  take,  to  guard  a  young 
writer  against  whatever  might  lay  him  open  to  censure,  or  diminish 
the  general  effect  of  his  book  ;  while,  if  I  had  marked  my  praise 
as  well  as  blame  in  the  margin,  your  manuscript  would  have  been 
still  more  defaced  than  you  at  present  behold  it.  I  cannot  hope 
that  you  will  assent  to  all  my  alterations  and  erasures  ;  but  I  am 
sure  that  you  will  impute  them  to  their  real  motive ;  and  also  be 
sensible  that  if  I  had  not  thought  your  work  worth  some  trouble 
I  should  not  have  been  thus  severe  with  it.  The  main  faults 
which  (though  I  have  noted  all  the  instances  as  they  occurred  to 
me)  I   think  it  right  to  mention  in  this  place,   are,   the  general 

'  Wilkins'  History  of  tlie  Siege  of  Jerusalem. 


WILKIXS'  "  SIEGE  OF  JERUSALEM."  403 


omission  of  the  relative  'which'  in  your  sentences,  a  habit  which     chap. 

XII. 

has  of  late  become  very  common,  but  which  is,  nevertheless  i"'^. 
slovenly,  and  in  serious  ^\Titing  very  improper.  Secondly,  the 
application  of  certain  prophecies  of  the  Old  Testament  to  the  final 
destruction  of  Jerusalem,  of  which  it  is  far  from  certain  that  they 
do  not  relate  to  the  previous  calamity  under  Nebuchadnezzar. 
Thirdly,  I  would  advise  shorter  applications  and  more  details  of 
the  incidents  mentioned  by  Josephus  and  others.  There  are 
other  cu-cumstances  which  I  could  not  help  noting  down,  and  in 
which  we  differ,  though  I  certainly  do  not  consider  them  as  faults 
in  your  work ;  I  mean  those  circumstances  in  which  you  think 
more  favourably  of  Titus  than  I  do,  and  in  which  it  is  not  only  fair 
to  differ,  but  you  have  most  commentators  and  historians  on  your 
side.  But  I  must  protest  against  the  argument  in  favour  of  his 
virtues,  derived  from  the  important  commission  which  he  had 
from  God  to  fulfil.  The  King  of  Assyria  had  a  similar  commis- 
sion ;  yet  how  the  prophets  exult  in  his  fall,  declaiming  against  his 
proud  looks,  and  raising  up  hell  to  meet  him.  God,  in  fact,  often 
makes  use  of  the  wicked  to  work  His  gracious  purposes,  blindly, 
and  in  their  own  despite ;  and  all  those  tyrants  of  the  earth,  from 
Tiglath  Pelesar  to  Buonaparte,  have  been  first  used  as  God's  staff 
to  chastize  the  nations,  and  then  the  staff  has  been  thrown  away. 

"  I  have  said  all  the  evil  of  your  book  which  I  could ;  I  must 
now,  in  justice,  say  something  in  its  favour.  It  is  pious,  rational, 
and  pleasingly  written ;  when  you  have  been  warmed  wdth  your 
subject  you  have  shown  very  considerable  powers  of  description ; 
and  when  it  shall  have  received  your  further  corrections,  I  have 
no  doubt  of  its  being  both  a  useful  and  popular  volume. 

"  I  remain,  dear  Sir, 

"  Your's  most  truly, 

"  Reginald  Heber." 


3  F  2 


404 


ON  THE  LANGUAGES  OF  THE  NORTH  OF  EUROPE. 


CHAP. 

i«"3.  To  R.  W.  Haij,  Esq. 

Moreton,  Nov.  '20th,  1813. 

"  I  was  unwilling  to  answer  your  letter  till  I  had  been  able  to 
ascertain  whether  Heber  possessed  the  book  you  mention,  but  can 
now  say  that  unluckily  we  neither  of  us  have  it.     I  have  not  seen 
the  book  since  I  was  at  Petersburg.     The  following  circumstances, 
if  I  remember  rightly,  he  mentions.     The  Finnish  language  is 
oriental,  and  radically  the  same  with  the  Hungarian,  though  differ- 
ing more  from  it  than  English  does  from  German.     The  Finns, 
Laplanders,  and  possibly  the  Greenlanders  and  Esquimaux  are  all 
of  Mongohan  race.     The  Finns  are  the  earliest  inhabitants  with 
whom  we  are  acquainted  in  the  north  of  Russia ;  and  are,  perhaps, 
the  red-haired  nation  living  in  wooden  cities,  mentioned  by  Hero- 
dotus as  lying  to  the  north  of  his  Sarmatians.     How  they  got  the 
red  hair,  so  different  from  their  oriental  ancestors,  and  from  the 
black  hair  of  the  Laplanders,  Greenlanders,  and  Samoieds,  is  not 
easy  to  say  ;  probably  by  intermarriage  with  the  Gothic  tribes.     In 
the  days  of  Alfred  (see  Ohthere's  description  of  his  voyage  made 
by  that  monarch's  orders  round  the  North  Cape,  published  by 
Daines  Barrington,)  the  Finns  had  a  great   city  at  Perm,  with  a 
female  idol,  all  gilt,  whom  they  worshipped  ;  and  they  carried  on  an 
extensive  trade  with  the  Caspian,  the  people  of  Igur  or  Bukharia, 
and  India,  by  means  of  the  two  rivers  Volga  and  Petchora.     Two  In- 
dians came  to  Alfred's  court  by  this  channel ;  and  it  was  the  general 
way  by  which  the  lighter  commodities  of  India,  or  at  least  of  Samar- 
cand,  came  to  the  north  of  Em'ope ;  exactly  as  we  met  the  Bukha- 
rian  venders  of  shawls  and  herons'  plumes  in  Petersburg.  Karamsin, 
of  Moscow,  told  me  that  the  Finnish  city  of  Perm  was  in  alliance 
afterwards  with  the  Hanse  towTis,  and  sent  three  hundi-ed  men  to 
the  aid  of  Novogorod  against  Ivan  Vasilovitch  ;    and  Dr.  Guthrie 
said  that  the  Aurea  Venus  of  Perm  was  mentioned  by  the  Russian 
chronicles  under  the  name  of  SoUotta  Baha,   '  the  golden  old 
woman.'     I  wish  this  scanty  information  may  be  of  any  use  to 


DEATH  OF  COLONEL  HILL.  405 


you,  as  I  fear  the  book  of  Professor  Porltan  is  not  to  be  met  with    chap. 

T  XII 

in  England.     I  have  myself  been  sedulously  hunting  old  Polish     »8i4. 
and  Hungarian  Chronicles  to  find  out  the  origin  of  the  Cossaks. 
*         *         *     Did  not  we  meet  Skioldebrand  one  day  at  Venner- 
quist's,  a  stout  tall  officer  full  of  empfindung  ? 

"  Our  friend  GifFord  is  a  little  unreasonable  on  busy  men  like 
you  and  me,  who  cannot  be  expected  to  give  up  so  much  time  to 

articles  for  the  Quarterly,  as  those  who  have  less  to  do.     B 

indeed  is  a  case  which  may  be  urged  against  us ;  but  he  has  ac- 
quired all  his  ideas,  and  has  only  to  write  them  down  ;  at  our  age 
we  are  obliged  to  read  to  enable  us  to  write. 

"  Ever  your's  truly, 

"  Reginald  Heber." 

To  John  Thornton,  Esq. 

Moretoti,  February,  1814. 

"  My  Dear  Friend, 

"  You  have  been  but  too  truly  informed  respecting 
Colonel  Hill's  death,  which,  from  its  suddenness  as  well  as  the 
greatness  of  the  loss,  not  only  to  his  own  family,  but  to  the  neigh- 
bourhood, in  which  he  had  many  friends,  and,  I  believe  in  my 
conscience,  not  a  single  enemy,  has  produced  a  greater  and  more 
general  shock  than  any  event  of  the  kind  which  has  fallen  under 
my  knowledge.  I  began  a  letter  to  announce  the  circumstance  to 
you  the  day  after  it  took  place,  and  was  so  completely  overset  that 
I  broke  off  in  the  middle.  A  wife,  whose  whole  happiness  was 
wrapt  up  in  him ;  children  at  an  age  when  a  father's  advice  and 
authority  are  most  necessary ;  an  aged  father,  whose  other  sons 
having  been  wonderfully  preserved  in  situations  of  more  apparent 
danger,  was  little  prepared  to  resign  the  one  who  remained  at 
home,  all  make  it  a  cup  of  deeper  worldly  sorrow  than  is  usually 
allotted  for  any  family  to  drink.  His  death  was  extremely  sudden, 
since,  though  he  had  some  time  before  had  a  tedious  liver  com- 
plaint, he  was  considered  as  quite  recovered  ;  and  the  inflammation 


406  HISTORY  OF  THE  COSSAKS. 

CHAP,  in  his  bowels,  which  carried  him  off,  was  only  first  perceived  a  week 
1814.  before  his  death,  and  was  supposed  to  be  overcome,  till,  within  two 
days  of  the  catastrophe,  mortification  was  detected.  He  himself  was 
one  of  the  first  sensible  of  his  approaching  end,  and  prepared  for 
it,  his  friends  assure  me,  with  a  Christian  resignation  and  coolness, 
which  few  possess  when  thus  suddenly  called  on.  He  retained  his 
faculties  to  the  last  moment,  which  he  employed  in  comforting  his 
wife  and  father.  *  #  *  rpj^^  funeral 

was  private,  but  it  was  distinguished  by  very  uncommon  marks 
of  grief,  not  only  in  the  fi*iends  of  the  deceased,  who  were  there,  but 
among  the  tenants  and  the  common  people  who  were  spectators. 
I  saw,  myself,  several  of  the  last  shedding  tears ;  a  very  unusual 
thing  in  persons  to  whom  death-beds  and  funerals  are  so  familiar." 


To  R.J.  Wilmot,  Esq. 

Moreton,  Feb.  10, 1814. 

"  I  am  much  disappointed  at  your  being  prevented  from 
coming  here,  as  I  have  several  things  respecting  which  I  want  yom* 
advice  and  criticism.  I  shall,  therefore,  if  I  can  with  any  degree 
of  convenience,  follow  you  to  town  during  the  spring  as  a  bachelor ; 
probably  immediately  after  Easter.  I  have  been  for  these  three 
weeks  busy  at  work  on  a  volume  of  Cossak  history,  being  the 
issue  of  my  abortive  endeavours  to  furnish  an  article  for  the  Quar- 
terly on  that  subject.  I  found  that  I  had  too  many  materials  for  an 
article,  and,  therefore,  determined  to  have  a  book  to  myself. 
This  I  should  like  very  much  to  show  you ;  nay,  it  is  necessary  that 
I  should  show  it  to  you  before  it  makes  its  appearance,  so  that  you 
may  make  up  your  mind  to  be  plagued  with  it." 


CHAPTER   XIII. 


Dissenters — Letter  to  a  Roman  Catholic — Allied  Sovereigns  at  Paris — Review  of 
Madame  de  StaeVs  "  De  V  AUemagne" — Letter  from  Madame  de  Staiil — "Lara^'' 
— Mr.  Reginald  Heher'' s  return  to  Hodnet — His  mode  of  life — Anecdote — Corre- 
spondence with  Mr.  Rowland  Hill — Preaches  the  Bampton  Lectures — Letter 
from  Lord  Grenville — Controversy  with  Mr.  Nolan — Remarks  on  Corn  Bill — 
"  Champion'''' — Distresses  of  the  country — Eastern  poetry. 


Mr.  Reginald  Heber  had  the  eood  fortune  to  find  but  few  dis-     chap. 

XIII. 

senters  in  his  parish.  There  was  one  Wesleyan  chapel,  but  the  lau. 
number  who  frequented  it  was  small,  and  during  the  sixteen  years 
of  his  ministry  they  did  not  increase.  A  short  time  before  his 
removal  to  Moreton,  a  Roman  Catholic  married  the  daughter  of 
one  of  his  most  respectable  parishioners.  He  had  often  wished  for 
an  opportunity  of  endeavouring  to  convert  this  man,  and  when  he 
heard  that  some  superstitious  ceremonies  had  been  observed  in  his 
wife's  apartment  dimng  her  confinement,  and  that  he  had  caused 
his  new-born  child  to  be  baptized  by  a  Roman  Catholic  clergyman, 
he  wrote  him  the  following  letter. 

Feh.  10,  1814. 

"  My  Dear  Neighbour, 

"  During  the  few  months  of  your  residence  in  my 
parish,  it  has  often  been  my  wish  to  address  you  on  the  subject  of 
religion  ;  but  the  want  of  a  proper  opportunity,  and  my  own 
unavoidable  absence  from  Hodnet,  on  account  of  my  health,  during 
a  great  part  of  the  time,  have  prevented  my  taking  a  step  which, 
even  now,  perhaps,  may  seem  unusual,  and  such  as  to  demand  an 
apology.     Your  absence  from  Church  and  the  baptism  of  your 

7 


408  LETTER  TO  A  ROMAN  CATHOLIC. 

xin^'  c^^^^^  ^y  ^  clergyman  of  the  Church  of  Rome,  were  circumstances 
'^'^  winch,  from  my  former  knowledge  of  your  family,  could  cause,  of 
course,  no  surprise  ;  and  you  know,  I  trust,  enough  of  my  character 
not  to  suspect  me  of  a  disposition  to  quarrel  with  any  man  for  wor- 
shipping the  Blessed  Trinity  in  the  manner  most  agreeable  to  his 
conscience.  Whatever  may  be  your  peculiar  opinions  I  have  no 
doubt  that  you  are  an  honest  man  and  a  sincere  believer.  But, 
since  I  naturally  feel  the  same  regard  for  you  which  I  feel  for  my 
other  parishioners,  the  same  desire  to  feed  you  with  the  bread  of 
life,  and  the  same  earnest  wish  to  amend  whatever  I  believe  to  be 
wrong  either  in  your  opinions  or  practice,  I  trust  you  will  not  take 
unkindly  the  observations  which  I  now  offer,  but  that  you  will 
examine  them  with  an  attentive  and  impartial  mind,  as  questions 
belonging  to  your  eternal  peace,  and  to  your  acceptance  with  God 
through  Jesus  Christ.  And  I  am  the  more  anxious  that  you  should 
do  so  from  my  esteem  for  your  wife,  whose  family  is  one  of  the 
most  respectable  in  this  parish,  and  whom,  till  lately,  I  have  very 
seldom  missed  attending  in  her  place  at  Church.  If  such  argu- 
ments as  I  can  offer  should  confirm  her  in  the  faith  of  her  worthy 
parents,  and  induce  you  also  to  abandon  those  doctrines  which  now 
prevent  your  joining  our  Protestant  worship,  I  shall  indeed  consider 
myself  as  most  happy  ;  and  I  beg  you  to  reflect  that,  at  all  events, 
to  read  and  meditate  on  my  arguments  can  do  you  no  harm.  If 
you  are  not  convinced  by  them,  you  will  be  only  where  you  were 
at  first ;  if  you  are  convinced,  I  hope  that  nothing  will  prevent 
your  forsaking  opinions  and  practices  which  (forgive  me  for  saying 
so)  I  cannot  help  thinking  offensive  to  God  and  to  Jesus  Christ. 

"  Both  your  Church  and  ours  are,  I  believe,  at  the  present 
day,  agreed  in  regarding  the  Holy  Scriptures  as  the  best  and  only 
certain  rule  of  faith  or  conduct.  They  contain  the  only  accounts 
on  which  we  can  at  all  depend  of  the  laws  given  by  God  to  Moses ; 
of  the  Jewish  kings  and  prophets ;  of  the  birth  of  ovir  Saviour, 
His  miracles.  His  doctrines,  and  His  death.  God  has  given  no  laws 
to  men  which  are  not  contained  in  the  Sacred  Volume ;  nothing 
which  is  not  grounded  on  Scripture  can  be  necessary  to  be  believed; 


LETTER  TO  A  ROMAN  CATHOLIC.  409 

nothing  which   is  contrary  to  Scripture  can  safely  be  taught  or    chap. 
practised.     If  then  we  prefer  any  human  authority  whatever  to  the      i^^^- 
written  word  of  God,  we  fall  under  the  heavy  condemnation  pro-  , 

nounced  by  Christ  against  the  Pharisees,  where  He  saith  that  they 
vainly  sought  Him,  while  they  taught  '  for  doctruie  the  command- 
ments of  men ; '  and  where  He  complains  that  they  had  rendered 
'  the  commandments  of  God  of  none  effect  through  their  traditions.' 
It  is  then  by  the  Bible,  and  the  Bible  only,  not  by  traditions  or  by 
the  authority  of  the  ancient  fathers,  (though  even  these  are  by  no 
means  favourable  to  the  modern  Church  of  Rome)  it  is  by  the 
Bible  that  every  doctrine  is  to  be  at  last  determined;  and  every 
Christian  who  can  read  is  bound,  so  far  as  he  has  abihty,  to  build 
his  judgement  on  this  foundation.  Christ  commanded  the  Jews  to 
'  search  the  Scriptures.'  The  men  of  Berea  are  praised  by  St.  Luke, 
in  the  Acts  of  the  Apostles,  for  their  diligent  examination  of  the 
Sacred  Volume :  and  I  am  sm-e  that  not  even  the  clergy  of 
your  own  Church,  can  or  will  find  fault  with  you  for  examining 
whether  my  arguments  are  really  confirmed  by  the  law  of  Moses 
and  the  Gospel  of  Christ.  The  Church  of  England,  both  in  doc- 
trine and  discipline,  differs  less  from  the  Church  of  Rome  than 
most  other  Protestant  societies  do ;  and  there  are  many  things  in 
which,  thank  God,  you  and  I  are  fully  agreed.  We  both  believe 
in  the  blessed  Trinity,  in  the  incarnation  of  Jesus  Christ,  His  birth 
of  a  pure  virgin.  His  wonderful  life  and  painful  death ;  and  it  is 
through  the  meiits  of  that  death  that  we  both  of  us  hope  to  enjoy 
a  blessed  eternity.  I  also,  as  well  as  you,  believe  in  the  Holy 
Catholic  Church  ;  for  '  catholic'  (as  any  of  your  learned  divines  ^vill 
tell  you)  is  a  Greek  w^ord  signifying  'universal'  or  'general;'  so 
that,  by  the  Catholic  Church  we  mean  that  society  of  ftiithfid 
people  all  over  the  world,  which  is  called  by  the  name  of  Christ, 
and  governed,  according  to  the  appointment  of  the  Apostles,  by 
bishops,  priests,  and  deacons  ;  and  this  we  believe  shall  continue  to 
the  end  of  the  world,  though  we  do  not  believe  with  you,  that  the 
pope  or  bishop  of  Rome  has  any  authority  over  others  of  the  same 
degree.     The  Church  of  England  also  acknowledges  the  connnii- 

VOL.  I.  3    G 


410  LETTER  TO  A  ROMAN  CATHOLIC. 

CHAP,    nion  of  saints ;  for  '  saint,'  which   is  taken  from   a  Latin   word, 

XIII. 

IS''*-  signifying  a  holy  person,  is  the  same  appUed  by  St.  Paul  to  all 
Christians  in  general ;  and  their  'communion'  (which  is  another 
Latin  word,  meaning  fellowship  or  society)  may  be  either  taken 
for  the  holy  Communion  of  Christ's  body  and  blood,  in  which  all 
Christians  should  partake;  or  else  for  that  union  of  interests,  that 
good  will,  that  mutual  help  and  comfort,  which  all  should  render  to 
one  another.  We  also  believe,  as  well  as  you,  in  the  resurrection 
of  the  body,  the  life  everlasting,  and  all  the  other  articles  of  the 
Apostles'  Creed. 

"  There  are,  however,  many  things  in  which  you  differ  from 
us  ;  and  those  not  things  of  trifling  consequence,  which  a  man  may 
believe  or  disbelieve  without  endangering  his  soul;  but  things 
which  must  be  either  true  or  false,  right  or  wrong ;  and  which,  if 
they  are  false,  and  contrary  to  the  word  of  God,  must,  from  their 
nature,  be  greatly  displeasing  to  Him.  Of  these,  the  following  are 
some  of  the  most  important. 

"  1st.  We  worship  God  in  the  language  which  we  understand 
and  usually  speak ;  you,  in  your  congregations,  worship  in  Latin, 
whether  you  understand  it  or  no.  I  shall,  perhaps,  be  answered  that 
there  are  some  of  your  prayer-books  in  which  directions  are  given 
in  English  to  tell  you  when  to  kneel,  and  explanations  of  that 
which  the  priest  is  saying.  That  such  are  allowed,  (for  it  is  only 
of  late  years  that  they  have  been  allowed,)  is  a  proof  of  the  gradual 
progress  which  truth  is  making  among  all  classes  of  men ;  and  is  also 
a  tacit  confession  on  the  part  of  your  clergy,  that  our  mamier  of  wor- 
ship is,  on  this  point,  more  reasonable  than  their  own.  But  for  such 
as  cannot  obtain  these  books,  and  for  the  far  greater  number  who 
cannot  read,  no  provision  can  thus  be  made ;  and  I  appeal  to  yourself 
whether,  in  a  congregation  of  Roman  Catholics,  by  far  the  greatest 
number  are  not  necessarily  ignorant  of  the  meaning  of  whatever  is 
said  or  chaunted.  Now  I  will  not  ask  yom-  clergy  the  reason,  if 
any  reason  can  be  given,  for  so  strange  a  practice.  God  surely 
understands  all  languages  as  well  as  Latin,  and  will  hear  om-  pray- 
ers which  we  offer,  '  every  man  in  his  own  tongue,  wherein  we 


LETTER  TO  A  ROMAN  CATHOLIC.  411 

were  born.'     Nor  will  I  ask  the  unlearned  man  how  he  can  be  sure    chap 

XIII. 

that  the  priest  is  not  abusing  him  to  his  face  in  an  unknown  tongue ;  i«i4 
or  how  he  can  be  said  to  join  in  a  prayer,  which  he  can  neither  pro- 
nounce nor  understand.  It  is  sufficient  to  observe,  that  this  prac- 
tice is  directly  contrary  to  the  words  of  St.  Paul  in  1  Cor.  xiv.  14. 
'  For,'  saith  he,  '  if  I  pray  in  an  unknown  tongue,  my  spirit  prayeth, 
but  my  understanding  is  unfruitful.  What  is  it,  then  ?  I  will 
pray  with  the  spirit,  and  I  will  pray  with  the  understanding  also. 
I  will  sing  with  the  spirit,  and  I  will  sing  with  the  understanding 
also.  Else,  when  thou  shalt  bless  with  the  Spirit,  how  shall  he  that 
occupieth  the  room  of  the  unlearned  say  Amen  at  thy  giving  of 
thanks  ?  seeing  he  understandest  not  what  thou  sayest.'  These 
are  the  words  of  an  Apostle  of  Jesus  Christ,  a  man  inspired  by  the 
Holy  Ghost.  I  leave  you  to  judge  which  of  our  Churches,  in  this 
respect,  conforms  to  his  directions. 

"  2dly.  Another  point  in  which  we  conceive  the  Church  of 
Rome  to  have  greatly  departed  from  Apostolic  purity,  is  the  ad- 
ministration of  the  Lord's  Supper.  All  the  communicants  with  us 
receive  both  bread  and  wine ;  with  you  the  bread  only  is  distri- 
buted to  the  people,  and  the  priests  reserve  the  mne  to  themselves. 
The  reason,  I  believe,  which  is  assigned  for  refusing  the  cup  is, 
that  it  is  unnecessary  ;  and  this  is  grounded  on  the  doctrine  which 
is  called  '  transubstantiation,'  or  change  of  substance.  That  is,  in- 
stead of  supposing,  as  we  do,  the  bread  and  wine  to  be  symbols  or 
representations  of  our  Saviour's  mangled  body,  and  of  His  blood 
poured  out  for  our  salvation,  your  Chmch  maintains  that,  after  the 
words  of  the  priest,  the  bread  and  wine  subsist  no  longer,  but  are 
absolutely  changed  into  the  very  flesh  and  blood  of  Christ.  And 
as  the  body  must  needs  have  some  blood  in  it,  so  they  maintain 
that  whosoever  partakes  in  the  bread,  partakes  at  the  same  time 
in  both  parts  of  the  Sacrament.  But  consider,  I  beg  of  you, 
how  can  such  a  change  be  possible  ?  Christ's  body  is  ascended 
into  Heaven,  not  to  return  till  He  comes  with  His  mighty  angels  to 
judge  the  world.  How,  then,  can  this  body,  (for  the  question  here 
is  of  the  body,  not  of  that  spiritual  existence  by  which,  as  God,  He 

3  G  2 


412  LETTER  TO  A  ROMAN  CATHOLIC. 

CHAP,  is  present  every  where;)  how  can  His  body  be  supposed  to  come 
'«'•<•  down  to  twenty  thousand  different  Churches  at  once,  at  the  word 
of  as  many  clergymen,  to  be  divided,  chewed,  swallowed,  and  di- 
gested ?  I  will  go  no  farther  !  God  forbid  that  we  should  believe 
such  abominations  !  I  know  it  will  be  answered  that  Christ  Him- 
self said,  speaking  of  the  bread  and  wine,  '  This  is  my  body  ;'  '  this 
is  my  blood.'  But  does  not  Christ,  in  like  manner,  call  Himself  a 
'  door,'  a  '  vine,'  a  *  shepherd  ?'  Do  not  the  Scriptures  call  Him  a 
'  lion,'  and  a  '  corner-stone  ?'  Does  not  St.  Paul  say  that  the  rock 
from  which  the  fountain  flowed  in  the  wilderness  was  Christ  ?  And 
.do  not  we  understand,  in  common  discourse,  the  exact  force  of  such 
expressions  ?  If,  pointing  to  my  own  picture,  I  should  say,  '  this 
is  my  head,'  would  any  one  suppose  that  I  meant  any  more  than 
the  likeness  or  representation  of  my  head  or  countenance  ?  How 
could  that  bread  be  Christ  ?  or  how  could  Christ  carry  Himself  in 
His  hand,  say  grace  over  Himself,  break  Himself,  and  distribute 
Himself  to  be  swallowed  by  His  disciples  ?  Do  we  not  see  the 
bread  ?  Do  we  not  feel  and  taste  it,  that  it  is  bread  still  ?  How  then 
can  learned  men  maintain  an  opinion  which  eyes,  touch,  taste,  and 
smell  alike  pronounce  untrue  ?  But  even  if  I  should,  for  the  sake 
of  argument,  admit  the  truth  of  such  a  change  in  the  substance, 
yet  would  not  this  justify  the  conduct  of  your  clergy  in  denying 
the  wine  to  the  congregation.  Whatever  the  change  is  now,  the 
same  change  took  place  when  Christ  Himself  instituted  the  Sacra- 
ment. Christ  Himself,  as  we  learn  from  Scripture,  '  after  supper 
took  the  cup,  and  when  He  had  given  thanks,  He  gave  to  them, 
saying,  drink  ye  all  of  it.'  And  St.  Paul,  writing  to  the  Corin- 
thian Christians,  saith  to  all  of  them  without  exception,  '  so  eat 
ye  that  bread,  and  drink  ye  that  cup.'  And-  according  to  these 
injunctions,  all  the  congregation  were  accustomed  to  receive 
the  wine  for  almost  a  thousand  years  after  the  death  of  Christ ; 
at  which  time  the  Romish  clergy,  they  best  knew  why,  began  to 
rob  the  laity  of  one-half  of  the  Lord's  Supper,  and  to  make,  so 
far  as  they  could,  the  word  of  God  of  none  effect  by  their 
tradition. 


LETTER  TO  A  ROMAN  CATHOLIC.  413 


"  3dly.  I  might  ask  your  clergy  on  what  authority  the  power  chap. 
assumed  by  the  pope  is  founded  ?  By  what  text  of  Scripture  they  is'*- 
can  prove  St.  Peter  to  have  been  bishop  of  Rome  ?  or  what  in- 
stance they  can  show  in  which  the  same  Apostle  (from  whom  they 
deduce  the  pope's  prerogative)  exercised  any  authority  over  the 
other  Apostles  ?  I  might  ask  their  grounds  for  the  doctrine  of 
purgatory,  and  of  masses  for  the  dead ;  for  holy  water  and  holy 
candles ;  and  for  many  other  particulars  in  the  tenets  and  ceremo- 
nies of  your  Church.  But  I  will  not  urge  these  points  at  present 
on  account  of  the  great  length  to  which  my  letter  has  already 
extended.  There  is  one,  however,  which  I  will  mention,  because 
it  shows  the  little  regard  paid  by  the  rulers  of  your  Church  to 
the  words  of  Scripture,  and  the  example  of  that  apostle  whose 
authority  they  chiefly  profess  to  venerate.  With  us,  priests  are 
allowed  to  marry  or  live  single  as  they  find  expedient.  With 
you,  they  are,  without  exception,  forbidden  to  marry.  Now, 
whence  comes  it,  I  would  ask,  that  your  doctors  impose  this 
grievous  yoke  on  men  who  have  the  same  passions  and  the  same 
temptations  as  the  rest  of  the  world  ?  They  cannot  deny  that 
St.  Peter  himself  was  a  married  man  ;  that  in  the  first  ages  of  Chris- 
tianity priests  married  hke  other  men ;  that  St.  Paul  twice  gives 
directions  that  '  a  bishop  should  be  blameless,  the  husband  of  one 
wife ;'  or  that  the  same  St.  Paul  assures  us,  that  they  who  forbid  to 
marry  '  have  their  consciences  seared  with  a  red-hot  iron  and 
preach  the  doctrines  of  devils.' 

"  4thly.  But  heavier  charges  are  yet  to  come  against  your 
Church,  charges  of  so  much  importance  to  the  vital  principles  of 
Christianity,  that,  as  you  value  the  hopes  of  a  Christian,  I  entreat 
you  to  consider  them  attentively.  The  first  of  these  remaining 
charges  is  the  reverence  paid  by  your  Church  to  the  Virgin  Mary, 
to  saints  and  to  angels.  We  ourselves  have  holy-days  in  honour, 
and  in  memory  of  the  chief  of  these ;  and  collects,  in  which  we 
give  God  thanks  for  the  benefits  which  we  have,  by  their  means, 
received,  and  in  which  we  pray  Him  to  give  us  grace  to  follow 
their  good  examples.     But,  to  pray  to  the  saints  themselves,  to 


414  LETTER  TO  A  ROMAN  CATHOLIC. 

CHAP,    sine;  hymns  to  them,  to  beg  their  mediation  with  God,  is  what  we 

xni.  to      ^  'to  '_ 

i«i-<-      dare  not  do ;  since,  let  me  ask,  what  warrant  is  there  m  Scripture 
for  our  paying  them  such  an  honour  ?     What  reason  have  we  for 
thinking  that  they  can  hear  the  prayers  which  we  offer  ?  or  how 
shall  we  venture  to  address  them  in  this  manner,  seeing  that  Christ 
assures  us  we  must  *  worship  the  Lord  our  God  and  serve  Him 
only  ?'  and  since  the  Scripture  allows  no  other  mediator  between 
God  and  man  save  only  the  Lord  Jesus  ?     The  Virgin  Mary  we 
acknowledge  to  have  been    blessed   and  honovu-able   above   all 
women  ;  but  a  woman  still,  and,  in  some  respects,  a  sinful  one ; 
nor  to  be  saved  except  by  the  merits  of  her  Son,  who  was  also  her 
God.    The  Apostles,  the  martyrs,  and  the  other  holy  men  who  have 
departed  this  life,  were  and  are  our  fellow-creatures  and  fellow- 
servants,  and  therefore  not  to  be  adored  ;  and  St.  Paul  gives  us  an 
express  caution  saying  '  Let  no  man  beguile  you  in  a  voluntary 
humility  and  worship  of  angels  !'     Nay,  these  holy  beings  them- 
selves are  so  far  from  claiming  such  honour,  that  when  St.  John 
fell  down  at  the  feet  of  one  of  them,  he  answered  '  see  thou  do  it 
not !     I  am  thy  fellow-servant,  and  of  thy  brethren  the  proj^hets, 
and  of  them  which  keep  the  sayings  of  this  book.     Worship  God !' 
"  5thly. — A  still  more   serious   charge  remains  against  the 
Roman  Church, — the  honour,  that  is,  and  worsliip  paid  to  images 
and  pictures.     I  am  well  aware  that  Christians  of  every  persua- 
sion are  indignant  at  the  charge  of  idolatry.      But  it  remains 
for  the  divines  of  your  Church  to  prove  by  what  authority,  what 
distinction,  grounded  on  Scripiure,  they  can  exempt  from  this 
grievous  imputation,  the  practice  which  they  not  only  permit,  but 
enjoin.     To  represent  God  the  Father  under  the  hkeness  of  an 
old  man,  or  otherwise,  in  any  picture  or  carving,  (a  sight  too  com- 
mon both  in  your  books  and  Churches,)  is  surely  no  other  than  that 
crime  wliich  God  so  expressly  forbids  in  the  book  of  Deuteronomy. 
'  Take  ye  therefore  good  heed  to  yom-selves,'  saith  Moses  to  the 
Israelites,  '  for  ye  saw  no  manner  of  similitude  on  the  day  that  the 
Lord  spake  unto  you  in  Horeb,  out  of  the  midst  of  the  fire.    Lest  ye 
corrupt  yourselves,  and  make  you  a  graven  image,  the  hkeness  of 


LETTER  TO  A  ROMAN  CATHOLIC.  415 


male  or  female.'  Other  images  or  pictures,  as  of  the  Virgin,  of  our  chap. 
Savioiu*,  of  the  Apostles,  or  of  different  transactions  in  the  history  of  '«>^- 
the  Bible,  are  not,  indeed,  forbidden  to  be  made,  or  to  be  placed 
as  Christian  ornaments  in  Churches  or  in  dwelling-houses ;  but  to 
worship  these,  to  bow,  or  kneel  down  before  them ;  to  say  our 
prayers  to  them ;  to  burn  candles  or  perfumes  before  them ;  to 
crown  them  with  garlands  or  jewels  ;  to  hope  for  any  help  or  relief 
from  them,  is  surely  no  other  than  that  very  same  fault  of  which 
the  ancient  heathen  were  guilty.  St.  Peter,  when  he  paid  his  visit 
to  Cornelius  the  centurion,  forbade  Cornelius  to  bow  down  before 
him,  saying.  '  Stand  up,  I  also  am  a  man.'  The  angel's  answer  to 
St.  John  I  have  already  told  you.  Shall  we  then  do  that  to  St. 
Peter's  picture,  which  St.  Peter,  if  he  were  present,  would  not 
suffer  to  be  done  to  himself?  Shall  we  pay  that  reverence  to  a 
piece  of  wood,  with  gilded  ^dngs,  which  a  real  angel  would  not 
receive,  but  declared  to  be  due  to  God  alone  ?  And  is  it  not  far 
better  to  contemplate  Christ  with  the  eye  of  faith,  where  He 
sitteth  at  God's  right  hand,  than  to  direct  our  eyes,  our  attention, 
and  our  prayers,  to  a  painted  representation  of  His  sufferings  ? 
Above  all,  by  what  distinction  is  it,  by  what  permission  of  God, 
or  what  text  of  Scripture,  that  the  Roman  Catholics  hope  to 
escape  the  sentence  of  that  Holy  Book,  which  saith,  '  cursed  is  he 
that  maketh  any  graven  or  molten  image  to  worship  it !'  or  of  that 
commandment  wherein  we  are  told,  '  thou  shalt  not  bow  down  to 
them  nor  worship  them  ?' 

"  If  then,  my  worthy  neighbour,  you  believe,  as  I  doubt  not 
yovi  do  believe,  the  Scriptures ;  if  you  reverence  the  Apostle  St. 
Paul,  who  bids  us  celebrate  our  public  prayers  in  a  language  un- 
derstood by  all ;  if  you  reverence  Jesus  Christ,  who  commanded 
His  followers  to  receive  the  wine  as  well  as  the  bread  in  the  Sacra- 
ment :  consider,  I  pray  you,  whether  it  be  not  necessary  to  separate 
yourself  from  those  who  transgress  so  positive  commandments ! 
If  you  hope  to  be  saved  by  the  merits  of  the  Son  of  God,  seek  not 
the  mediation  of  saints,  of  angels,  or  of  the  Virgin  Mary  !  If  you 
desire  to  escape  the  dreadfid  curse  of  the  Almighty,   bow   not 


4i(i  ALLIED  SOVEREIGNS  AT  PARIS. 

CHAP,  down  your  knees  before  a  graven  image  or  picture,  or  '  the  like- 
1814.  ness  of  any  thing  in  heaven  or  in  earth,  or  in  the  waters  under 
the  earth.'  That  many  good  men,  many  great,  and  wise,  and 
learned  men,  have  held  the  opinions  of  the  Church  of  Rome,  is 
nothing  to  the  purpose.  We  must  not  build  our  faith  on  man's 
authority,  but  on  the  words  of  Scripture ;  and  we  must  remember 
that  St.  Paul  saith,  that  if  any  man,  or  even  if  an  angel,  were  to 
preach  a  doctrine  contrary  to  the  Gospel,  we  must  not  listen  to 
him. 

"  In  what  I  have  now  written  I  can  have  no  desire  to  deceive 
you,  nor  can  I  have  any  worldly  interest  in  your  conversion.  I  do 
not  wish  to  take  you  by  surprise.  Read  this  letter  often  ;  turn  to 
those  places  of  Scripture  which  I  have  mentioned,  and  compare 
my  words  with  the  Word  of  God.  Show  them,  if  you  think  fit, 
to  your  own  spiritual  adviser ;  and  .what  answers  he  can  offer, 
and  again  compare  those  answers  with  the  Bible.  The  more  you 
think  upon  religious  subjects, — the  more  you  read  God's  Word, — 
and  the  more  you  pray  for  His  grace  to  enlighten  your  heart  and 
understanding,  the  wiser  man  and  the  better  Christian  you  will 
imdoubtedly  become  ;  and  the  nearer,  vmless  I  am  much  mistaken, 
to  that  which  I  hope  one  day  to  see  you,  a  Protestant  of  the  pure 
Church  of  England ! 

"  I  remain  your  sincere  well-wisher, 

"  Reginald  Heber." 

This  letter  was  said,  by  some  of  the  man's  neighbours,  to  have 
produced  a  considerable  effect  on  his  mind ;  but  it  was,  apparently, 
not  sufficiently  strong  to  induce  him  to  make  further  inquiries  into 
the  truth  of  the  representations  it  contains,  for  he  still  remains  in 
the  faith  of  his  forefathers. 

To  R.  J.  Wilmot,  Esq. 

Hodnet  Rectory,  April  QO,  1814. 
"  I  do  not  wonder  at  your  anxiety  to  repair  to  Paris  at  the  pre- 
sent juncture,  more  especially  as  to  you,  who  have  seen  Buonaparte 


L'ALLEMAGNE.  417 

in  his  glory,  the  change  of  dynasty  and  the  deportment  of  Paris  under  chap. 
it,  must  be  very  interesting.  For  myself  I  must,  perforce,  be  contented  'S'^i 
with  hearing  an  account  of  the  procession  of  the  alhed  sovereigns 
to  Notre  Dame,  and  with  reading  the  parallel  cases  of  Sejanus  and 
Rufinus,  in  Juvenal  and  Claudian.  Is  not  the  parallel  perfectly 
extraordinary  between  the  cries  of  the  mob  in  Juvenal,  and  the 
first  proclamation  of  the  Parisian  senate  against  the  man  whom 
they  had  so  lately  addressed  as  the  second  Charlemagne  ?  That 
passage  above  all,  is,  from  its  nationality,  mvaluable,  in  which, 
after  recounting  various  instances  of  Buonaparte's  misgovernment, 
they  charge  him  with  having  '  rallied  females  on  the  decline  of 
their  beauty  !'  Yet  ^^'ith  all  their  faults  and  follies,  how  well  have 
this  people  fought !  Will  it  not  follow  that  animal  spirits  and 
national  pride  are  the  princijDles  of  valour  ?  and  that  a  sense  or 
desire  of  liberty  has  nothing  to  do  ^^ith  it  ?  On  the  whole,  the 
revolution  which  has  taken  place  is  so  like  the  last  scene  of  a 
comedy,  that  when  I  wake  in  a  morning  I  can  hardly  believe  it 
real.  Not  that  even  yet  we  are  quite  on  dry  land ;  the  Jacobins 
in  England  will  still  continue  bawlmg  for  a  reform  in  parliament ; 
and  though  the  Irish  catholics  will  probably  sink  in  their  demands, 
I  fear  the  orthodox  will  harden  their  hearts  in  projjortion.  There 
are,  in  fact,  too  many  mischievous  sph'its  abroad  to  subside  into 
perfect  tranquillity ;  and  though  our  external  peace  is,  probably, 
for  several  years  secured,  yet  the  contemporaneous  expansion  of 
French  and  English  commerce  will,  I  suppose,  bring  as  an  inevit- 
able consequence,  that  the  first  war  in  which  France  engages  will 
be  a  naval  one.  Still  we  have,  God  knows,  great  reason  to  be 
thankful ;  and  when  we  compare  our  best  hopes  two  years  ago  with 
the  worst  of  our  fears  now,  we  may  well  exult.  I  want  to  talk 
over  various  matters  with  you,  in  particular  my  Cossaks,  Avho  have 
been  cruelly  neglected  during  this  canvass  for  Oxford,  and  whose 
services  will  now,  I  fear,  be  forgotten  by  Em-ope  before  my  volimie 
can  make  its  appearance.  From  you  I  have,  as  you  well  know,  no 
secrets ;  you  may,  therefore,  be  surprised  that  I  had  not  already 
told  you  that  the  article  on  Madame  de  Stael,  in  the  last  Quarterly, 

VOL.  I.  3   H 


418  LETTER  TO  R.  J.  WILMOT,  ESQ. 

CHAP,     was  mine.     In  truth,  had  we  met,  you  would  have  seen  the  MS. 
xiir.  . 

'814-      I  desired  Murray  and  Giiford,  for  obvious  reasons,  not  to  name 

the  author ;  why  they  have  attributed  it  to  a  '  young  lawyer'  the 

father  of  concealment  (for  I  will   not  use  a  harsher  word)  only 

knows '." 

To  R.  J.  Wilmot,  Esq. 

Hodnet  Rectory,  Sept.  5,  1814. 

"  All  my  pursuits  have  for  a  time  been  standing  still,  and  I 
have  so  many  employments  gradually  accumulating  about  me,  that, 
like  the  ass  between  the  two  bundles  of  hay,  I  have  not  known 
which,  to  begin  upon;  or,  still  more,  likeBaretti's  sluttish  cook-maid, 
who,  on  being  told  that  she  had  the  house  to  clean,  the  fire  to 
make,  the  clothes  to  wash,  and  a  large  dinner  to  dress,  ran  crying 
up  stairs  and  went  to  bed  in  despair,  I  have  been  often  tempted  to 
shut  my  eyes  on  all  my  engagements  and  pursuits  together.  The 
vexations  which  have  engrossed  most  of  my  mind,  more  indeed  than 
they  ovight  or  needed  to  have  done,  were  the  necessity  of  dabbling 
still  further  in  brick  and  mortar,  when  I  had  hoped  I  was  at  the 
end  of  my  troubles,  the  continued  plague  of  my  waterless  well, 
which  at  present  only  yields  a  fluid  that  would  baffle  the  thirst 
of  an  Arab,  the  being  compelled  to  run  further  into  debt,  which  I 
hate  and  abhor,  and,  above  all,  the  prospect  of  a  law-suit  for  part  of 
my  last  year's  tithes.     The  manner  in  which  these   things  have 

'  "  De  L'Allemagne,"  par  Madame  La  Baronne  de  Stael  Holstein.  Quarterly  Review, 
ISU. 

The  Editor  cannot  deny  herself  the  gratification  of  publishing  a  note  written  by  Madame 
de  Stael,  to  Mr.  Murray,  on  the  article  here  alluded  to. 

"  Ne  pourriez  vous  done  pas  me  dire,  my  dear  Sir,  qui  a  fait  I'extrait  de  mon  ouvrage  dans 
le  Quarterly  Review  ?  Je  ne  parle  pas  seulement  de  la  bienveillance  pour  moi  qui  me  touche 
— mais  il  me  paroit  impossible  de  montrer  plus  de  justice  at  d'etendue  d'esprit,  de  connois- 
sance  plus  approfondie,  et  un  sentiment  de  piete  si  ferme  et  si  eclaire,  qu'il  m'est  impossible  de 
ne  pas  regretter  d'avoir  suivi  les  conseils  qu'il  m'auroit  donne  ;  le  morceau  sur  Klopstock 
en  particulier  est  du  premier  rang  :  dites  moi  done  le  nom." 

To  another  person  Madame  de  Stael  remarked,  "  that  of  all  the  reviews  on  her  work, 
(and  she  had  carefully  read  them  all,)  this  was  the  only  one  which  had  raised  her  opinion  of 
the  talents  and  acquirements  of  the  English." 

9 


MR.  REGINALD  HEBER'S  RETURN  TO  HODNET.  419 

worried  and  unfitted  me  for  writing  and  reading,  has  given  me  a    chap. 

pretty  accurate  knowledge  of  my  own  unfitness  for  business ;  and  I      >^'^- 

have,  seriously,  at  times,  been  led  to  feel  thankful  that  I  have  no 

children,   since  if  I  am  thus  annoyed  without  them,  what  anxiety 

should  I  feel,  if  I  had  the  embarrassed  prospects  of  others  to  look 

to.     For  the  last  fortnight  I  have  been  endeavouring  to  run  away 

from  my  cares  into  Wales,  where  Emily  has  had  cares  of  another 

kind,  in  musing  her  sister,  Mrs.  Dashwood,  and  attending  her  in 

her  journey  to  London,  where  she  is  now  waiting  the  departure  of 

a  store-ship  to  Malta. 

*  *  *  * 

"  Lara,  though  it  has  several  good  lines,  is  a  further  proof  of 
the  melancholy  fact,  which  is  true  of  all  sequels  from  the  conti- 
nuation of  the  iEneid,  by  one  of  the  famous  Italian  poets  of  the 
middle  ages,  down  to  '  Polly,  a  sequel  to  the  Beggar's  opera,'  that 
*  more  last  words'  may  generally  be  spared  without  any  great  detri- 
ment to  the  world." 

In  the  spring  of  1814,  the  new  rectory-house  being  completed, 
Mr.  Reginald  Heber  returned  to  Hodnet.  His  health  was  now 
re-established ;  and  although  he  continued  through  life  subject  to 
inflammatory  attacks,  yet  by  constant  exercise  and  temperance,  he 
was  enabled  to  pursue  his  studies  without  injuring  his  constitu- 
tion. He  was  an  early  riser,  and  after  the  family  devotions  were 
ended,  he  usually  spent  seven  or  eight  hours  among  his  books, 
leaving  them  only  at  the  call  of  duty.  Fond  of  society,  and 
eminently  qualified  to  shine  in  it,  he  never  suffered  his  relish  for 
its  pleasures  to  betray  him  into  neglecting  his  duties.  He  delighted 
in  literature,  but,  at  the  same  time,  was  a  most  active  parish  priest ; 
remarkably  happy  in  gaining  the  confidence  and  affection  of  his 
flock,  he  found  his  purest  pleasure  in  administering  to  their  neces- 
sities, and  in  attending  their  sick  and  dying  beds  ;  in  consoling  the 
mourner,  in  exhorting  the  sinner  to  repentance,  and  in  endeavouring 
to  draw  all  hearts  after  him  to  his  God.  In  the  long  course  of  his 
labours  he  had  occasionally  to  attend  the  death-bed  of  the  wicked, 

3  H  2 


420  HIS  MODE  OF  LIFE. 


CHAP,     and  to  witness  and  grieve  over  the  failure  of  his  attempts  to  awaken 


XIII 


}^*__  the  hardened  conscience.  But  far  more  frequently  the  scenes  of 
piety  and  resignation  which  he  witnessed  in  the  lowly  cottage,  were 
such  as  he  delighted  to  relate  to  his  happy  wife  ;  and  such  as  he 
humbly  trusted  would  make  him  a  better  man.  He  often  observed 
that  the  mere  bodily  fear  of  dying  is  not  a  feeling  implanted  in  us 
by  nature ;  and  that  the  manner  in  which  a  poor  and  unlearned 
man,  who  has  Httle  to  regret  leaving,  and  who  fervently  and 
humbly  relies  on  the  mercies  of  his  Saviour,  looks  to  the  moment  of 
dissolution,  affords  a  useful  lesson  to  the  rich  and  the  learned.  It 
is  with  a  mixture  of  feelings  that  the  writer  of  the  present  memoir 
looks  back  to  those  days  of  happiness ;  and  her  grief  that  the 
bright  vision  has  passed  away  is  chastened  and  alleviated  by  the 
reflection,  that  every  revolving  year  w^as  fitting  her  husband  more 
and  more  for  the  glorious  crown  of  immortality  prepared  for  him 
in  Heaven. 

It  will  be  seen,  as  well  from  the  tenour  of  Mr.  Reginald  Heber's 
writings  already  before  the  world,  as  from  the  present  correspond- 
ence, that  although  his  mind  was  deeply  imbued  with  devotional 
feelings,  he  considered  a  moderate  participation  in  what  are  usually 
called  "  worldly  amusements,"  as  allowable  and  blameless.  When 
the  editor  requested  his  advice  on  this  subject  the  year  after  her 
marriage,  being  for  a  short  time  without  him  in  London,  his  answer 
was,  "  you  may  go  where  you  please,  as  I  am  sure  you  will  not 
exceed  the  limits  of  moderation,  except  to  Sunday  evening  parties, 
to  wdiich  I  have  a  very  serious  objection."  He  thought  that  the 
strictness,  which  made  no  distinction  between  things  blameable 
only  in  their  abuse,  and  practices  which  were  really  immoral,  was 
prejudicial  to  the  interests  of  true  religion  ;  and  on  this  point  his 
opinion  remained  unchanged  to  the  last.  His  own  life,  indeed, 
was  a  proof  that  amusements  so  participated  in  may  be  perfectly 
harmless,  and  no  way  interfere  with  any  religious  or  moral  duty. 
The  Sabbath  he  kept  with  Christian  reverence,  but  not  with  Mosaical 
strictness.  His  domestic  arrangements  were  such  as  to  enable 
every  member  of  his  household  to  attend  Divine  Service,  at  least 


ANECDOTE.  401 


once  on  that  day.     After  its  public  duties  were  ended,  he  employed     chai'. 
the  remainder  of  the  evening  in  attending  to  the  spiritual  and      '8'»- 
temporal  necessities  of  his  parishioners,  in  composing  sermons,  in 
study,  or  in  instructive  conversation  with  his  family '. 

He  was  equally  ready  to  converse  with  the  learned,  or  to 
enliven  by  his  anecdotes  and  poetical  talents  the  innocent  gaiety 
of  the  social  circle ;  and  the  editor  has  preserved  many  effusions 
of  his  muse,  which,  though  forgotten  by  himself  almost  as  soon  as 
repeated,  will  long  be  remembered  with  pleasure  and  regret  by 
those  who  were  admitted  to  his  unreserved  intimacy.  His  mo- 
desty and  humility  heightened,  in  a  very  considerable  degree,  the 
influence  of  his  talents  upon  the  minds  of  those  with  whom  he 
associated.  In  conversation  he  was  much  less  eager  to  display  his 
own  acquirements  than  anxious  to  draw  out  those  of  others ;  and 
he  rather  led  his  hearers  to  think  better  of  their  own  abilities  than 
to  feel  mortified  by  his  superiority.  A  child,  by  her  mother's 
request,  had  been  repeating  her  lesson  to  him ;  after  listening  to 
the  little  girl  he  gradually  began  to  talk  to  her  on  the  subject  it 
related  to ;  and  when  she  was  asked,  '  how  she  liked  saying  her 
lesson  to  Mr.  Reginald  Heber  ?'  she  answered,  '  oh,  very  much, 
and  he  told  me  a  great  many  things,  but  I  do  not  think  he  knows 
much  more  than  I  do  ^' 

'  The  following  anecdote  only  came  to  the  editor's  knowledge  after  her  return  from  India. 
As  Mr.  Reginald  Heber  was  riding  one  Sunday  morning  to  preach  at  Moreton,  his  horse  cast 
a  shoe.  Seeing  the  village  blacksmith  standing  at  the  door  of  his  forge,  he  requested  him  to 
replace  it.  The  man  immediately  set  about  blowing  up  the  embers  of  his  Saturday  night's  fire, 
on  seeing  which,  he  said,  "  On  second  thoughts,  John,  it  does  not  signify  ;  I  can  walk  my  mare  ; 
it  will  not  lame  her,  and  I  do  not  like  to  disturb  your  day  of  rest."  The  blacksmith,  when  he 
related  this,  added,  that  though  as  a  matter  of  necessity  he  had  often  shod  horses  on  a  Sunday, 
he  was  much  struck  by  the  anxiety  of  his  Rector  to  avoid  being  the  cause  of  what  would  be 
blameable  if  made  habitual,  and  might  hurt  the  conscience  of  some  of  his  poor  parishioners. 
'  A  friend  and  neighbour  of  her  husband's  writes  thus  to  the  editor  : 

"  I  never  met  with  the  man  who,  having  so  many  positive  excellencies  and  high  accom- 
plishments, had  the  negative  and  passive  good  qualities  in  the  same  degree  ;  who,  being  so 
admirable,  was  also  so  amiable,  and  with  such  powers  and  imagination,  was  so  inoffensive  and 
so  innocent.  In  social  intercourse  he  was  as  attentive  as  he  was  commimicative,  and  as  good  a 
listener  as  he  was  a  talker.  I  used  to  think  that,  as  a  religious  character,  he  was  not  always 
appreciated  as  he  deserved  ;  but  it  seemed  to  me  that  this  arose  from  his  being  in  every  thing 

I 


422  CORRESPONDENCE  WITH  MR.  ROWLAND  HILL. 

CHAP.  The  parish  of  Hodnet  bemg  very  extensive,  contains,  besides 

["}^    the  perpetual  curacy  of  Moreton  See,  already  mentioned,  a  small 

Chapel  of  ease  to  which  the  curate  is  appointed  by  the  rector. 
Weston  Chapel  is  within  a  mile  of  Hawkstone,  and  is  generally 
attended  by  the  family  of  the  Hills.  About  this  time  the  cele- 
brated Mr.  Rowland  Hill,  great  uncle  to  the  present  baronet,  Sir 
Rowland  Hill,  obtained  the  curate's  permission  to  preach  in  his 
pulpit ;  and  a  few  days  after,  his  intention  was  announced  of 
preaching  likewise  in  the  dissenting  chapel  at  Woollerton,  which 
is  also  within  the  parish.  Although  Mr.  Reginald  Heber  would 
not  interfere  with  the  right  of  the  curate  of  Weston  to  admit  to 
his  pulpit  any  regularly  ordained  clergyman  whom  he  thought  fit, 
yet  when  he  understood  that  it  was  Mr.  Rowland  Hill's  intention 
to  preach  on  a  subsequent  day  at  Woollerton,  he  inmiediately, 
though  with  very  painful  feelings,  forbad  his  officiating  at  Weston, 
and  stated  his  reasons  in  letters  to  himself  and  to  his  brother,  the 
Rev.  Brian  Hill. 

.2'o  the  Rev.  Mr,  P ,  curate  of  Weston. 

"  Dear  Sir, 

"It  is  my  wish  that  Mr.  Rowland  Hill  be  on  no 
future  occasion  admitted  to  officiate  in  Weston  Chapel.  To  spare 
you  any  embarrassment  or  unpleasant  discussion  with  him  on  the 
subject,  I  have  just  sent  him  a  note,  of  which  the  following  is  a 


so  absolutely  simple  and  good-natured,  and  from  these  qualities  being  so  rare  with  most  men. 
He  was  never  considering  how  others  might  view  him  ;  and  about  things  in  which  he  saw 
no  evil,  he  did  not  express  himself  doubtingly,  because  he  knew  that  others  were  offended 
by  them. 

"  I  saw  him  often  at  religious  meetings,  and  though  his  manner  of  speaking  at  the  outset 
showed  what  he  meant  by  an  expression  he  once  used  to  me,  that  he  was,  like  Moses,  '  a  man  of 
uncircumcised  lips,'  yet,  as  soon  as  he  got  a  little  into  his  subject,  he  was  admirably  clear,  and 
impressive,  and  interesting.  And  he  put  so  much  of  his  heart  into  his  act,  seemed  so  unaffect- 
edly zealous,  and  so  far  from  thinking  it  beneath  him  to  bring  his  great  powers  to  our  aid  upon 
those  occasions,  that  it  was  impossible  not  to  be  greatly  animated,  both  by  what  he  said,  and  his 
manner  of  saying  it." 


CORRESPONDENCE  WITH  MR.  ROWLAND  HILL.  423 

copy.     I  trust  that  you  will  see  my  motives  for  this  step  in  their    chap. 
true  light,  and  that  you  mil  believe  me,  dear  Sir,  1814! 

Yours,  with  much  respect  and  regard, 

"  Reginald  Heber." 

To  the  Rev.  Rowland  Hill, 

July,  1814. 

"  Reverend  Sir, 

"  1  am  informed  that  yesterday  you  addressed  a 
sermon  to  my  parishioners  at  Weston,  and  that  you  have  an- 
nounced your  intention  to  preach  on  Wednesday  next  in  the 
dissenting  chapel  at  Woollerton,  and  again  at  Weston  on  the 
ensuing  Sunday.  I  think  it  my  duty,  as  rector  of  Hodnet,  to 
request  that  you  will  not  make  use  of  the  Chapel  of  ease  at  Weston. 
The  munificence  of  Su'  Richard  Hill  in  rebuilding  it,  and  the 
friendship  which  has,  for  so  many  years,  subsisted  between  our 
families,  render  this  a  very  unpleasant  task  to  me ;  but  it  is  one 
from  which  I  am  not  justified  in  shrinking. 

"  Of  your  peculiar  religious  opinions  I  know  but  little  ;  and  I 
can  well  bear  that  a  brother  clergyman  should  differ  from  me  on 
points  which  have  no  immediate  reference  to  Christian  faith  or 
practice.  But  whatever  your  opinions  may  be,  and  happy  as  I 
might  feel  myself  in  the  assistance  of  any  man  of  talent  or  ortho- 
doxy, yet  as  a  member  of  the  Church  of  England,  I  will  not 
permit  that  the  pidpits  where  I  have  any  influence,  shall  be  used 
by  a  person  who  encourages  by  his  presence  and  preaching  a  dis- 
senting place  of  worship. 

"  For  this  letter  no  apology  is  necessary.  If  you  expect  that 
your  own  M'ay  of  preaching  the  Gospel  should  meet  with  a  candid 
construction,  you  must  allow  me  also  my  prejudices,  my  natural 
anxiety  for  the  congregations  entrusted  to  my  charge,  and  my  zeal 
for  those  institutions  which  I  have,  through  life,  been  taught  to 
venerate. 


4-24  CORRESPONDENCE  WITH  MR.  ROWLAND  HILL. 


CHAP.  "  With  the  greatest  respect  and  esteem  for  the  family  of 

1814."     which  you  are  a  member,  and  a  ready  acknowledgement  of  the 
purity  of  your  motives, 

"  I  remain.  Reverend  Sir, 

"  Your  very  humble  servant, 

"  Reginald  Heber." 


To  the  Rev.  Brian  Hill. 


"  Dear  Sir, 


"  *  *  I  am  far  from  desiring  to 

dictate  to  any  one,  especially  to  one  so  much  my  senior,  the 
manner  in  which  he  is  to  do  good ;  but,  as  I  sincerely  believe  sepa- 
ration from  the  Church  of  England  to  be  both  evil  in  itself  and 
productive  of  evil,  I  am  very  earnest  that,  in  this  neighbourhood 
at  least,  the  popular  and  powerful  name  of  Hill  should  not  lend 
its  sanction  to  meetings  which  I  cannot  help  considering  as  sinful. 
If  Mr.  Hill  has  no  intention  of  preaching  in  the  neighbouring 
dissenting  chapel,  I  cannot  object  to  his  officiating  at  Weston,  if 
Mr.  Pugh  thinks  proper.  Otherwise,  however  painful  the  task,  I 
shall  feel  it  right  to  bear  my  testimony  against  the  practice.  I 
have  thought  it  my  duty  to  be  thus  candid  with  you  on  a  very 
distressing  subject,  begging  you,  at  the  same  time,  to  believe  that 
I  have  a  perfect  respect  for  yoiu*  brother's  character  and  intentions, 
and  am  sensible  how  much  I  myself  might  learn  from  his  dauntless 
zeal  and  unwearied  exertions. 

"  Believe  me,  dear  Sir, 

"  Your  obliged  friend, 

"  Reginald  Heber." 

These  letters  were  received  in  the  same  spirit  with  which 
they  were  written,  and  the  circumstance  did  not  interrupt  the 
friendship  which  had  so  long  existed,  and  still  exists,  between  the 
famihes. 


BAMPTON  LECTURES.  425 


In  the  course  of  this  year  Mr.  Reginald  Heber  was  appointed    chap. 


XIII. 


Banipton  lecturer  for  1815.  The  svibject  he  chose,  "  The  Per-  '»'4' 
sonality  and  Office  of  the  Christian  Comforter,"  was  well  calcu- 
lated to  bring  forward  his  stores  of  theological  learning,  and  to 
exhibit  the  calm  and  profound  devotion  of  his  own  spirit.  Many 
of  his  friends  differed  from  him  on  some  speculative  points ;  but 
"  every  competent  judge  was  compelled  to  do  justice  to  the  depth 
of  learning,  the  variety  of  research,  and  the  richness  of  illustration 
which  these  compositions  displayed." 

In  compliance  with  the  will  of  the  founder,  Mr.  Reginald 
Heber  published  these  lectures  the  year  after,  dedicated  to  Lord 
Grenville,  chancellor  of  the  university.  From  this  eminent  scholar 
and  statesman  he  received  the  following  flattering  testimonial  to 
the  merits  of  the  work. 

"  *  *  *  You  have  treated  of  a  subject  of  the  very  first 
importance,  yet  one  not  in  the  ordinary  and  beaten  paths  of  such 
enquiries ;  you  have  brought  to  bear  upon  it  great  ability  and 
learning,  and  on  some  parts  of  it  you  have  opened  views  which  are 
new,  at  least  to  my  limited  knowledge  of  such  subjects  ;  and  I  feel 
persuaded  that  I  have  derived  from  what  you  have  written,  mvich 
satisfactory  and  useful  information. 

"  I  have  only,  therefore,  to  add  to  the  expression  of  my  per- 
sonal thanks,  that  of  my  earnest  hope  that  you  will  have  health  and 
resolution  to  persevere  in  studies,  which,  with  your  talents,  must 
render  you  not  only  an  ornament  to  the  university,  but  a  valuable 
and  highly  useful  member  of  the  sacred  profession  to  which  you 
have  devoted  yourself 

"  I  am  with  great  truth  and  regard.  Sir,   your  most  faithful 

and  most  obedient  humble  servant, 

"  Grenville." 
I>ropmore,  April  ^Wi,  1816. 

By  many  other  able  persons  of  great  theological  acquire- 
ments, similar  tributes  were  paid  to  the  learning,  the  piety,  and 
the  rectitude  of  mind  displayed  throughout  the  whole  volume. 

VOL.  I.  3    I 


426  CONTROVERSY  WITH  MR.  NOLAN, 

CHAP.     But  a  few  months  after  its  publication,  an  article  which  was  subse- 

181-''-      quently  acknowledged  to  have  been  written  by  the  Rev. Nolan, 

appeared  in  the  British  Critic  for  December  1816,  and  January 
1817,  which  contained  such  unwarrantable  charges  against  Mr. 
Reginald  Heber's  orthodoxy,  as  well  as  so  much  misrepresentation 
of  his  meaning,  as  to  induce  him  to  conquer  his  dislike  to  polemi- 
cal controversy,  and  to  publish  an  answer  to  the  review.  His 
pamphlet  was  generally  considered  a  triumphant  refutation  of  Mr. 
Nolan's  assertions ;  and  even  his  antagonist  appears  to  have 
thought  it,  in  a  great  degree,  unanswerable,  as,  although  he  pub- 
lished a  reply,  it  embraced  only  the  former  part  of  Mr.  Heber's 
answer,  and  the  promised  conclusion  never  made  its  appearance. 

The  narration  of  the  events  consequent  on  the  publication  of 
the  Bampton  lectures,  has  necessarily  interrupted  the  course  of 
the  more  constant  correspondence  which  will  now  be  resumed. 

To  JR.  J.  Wilmot,  Esq. 

Hodnet  Rectory,  Feb.  12,  1815. 

"  If  I  am  not  ashamed  of  writing  you  in  the  face  after  my  long 
neglect,  may  I  be  doomed  to  the  lot  of  the  witty  old  hermit  of 
Prague,  who  never  saw  pen  and  ink.  Yet  I  now  may  promise 
amendment  mth  more  confidence  than  I  could  have  done  a  week 
ago,  since  I  have  finished,  to  my  own  satisfaction,  the  three  sermons 
which  I  am  to  preach  before  Easter ;  and  of  the  remaining  five, 
three  are  in  a  competent  state  of  forwardness. 

"  I  am  not  so  fortunate,  certainly,  as  to  taste  that  which  Gib- 
bon calls  the  luxury  of  composition ;  at  least  it  is  a  luxury  which 
only  attends  history  and  poetry,  while  the  streams  of  polemic 
Divinity  are  nothing  less  than  Hippocrene  ;  and  till  I  have  rinced 
my  mouth  with  Morte  Arthur,  I  hardly  look  to  be  my  own  man 
again.  I  do  not  know  whether  you  will  understand  me  when  I 
talk  of  the  dislike  which  I  feel  to  any  subject  which  I  have  been 
long  engaged  in  writing  and  re-writing ;  and  yet  such  is  my  hard 
fortune,  that  I  have  never  been  engaged  in  any  thing  of  conse- 


REMARKS  ON  CORN-BILL.  427 

quence  where  I  did  not  find  this  necessary.  I  quite  long  to  o-et  chap. 
back  to  my  old  laborious  idleness  of  the  dictionary  and  the  Quar-  i«'5. 
terly.  Do  you  mean  to  give  any  thing  to  the  next  number  ?  I 
should  not  have  asked  you  had  you  got  into  parliament,  and  glad 
indeed  shall  I  be  to  hear  that  there  is  yet  any  chance  of  your  being 
better  employed  than  in  reviewing.  The  corn  laws  are  a  subject 
which  I  am  much  vexed  to  think  you  will  not  have  an  opportunity 
of  speaking  on  in  parliament;  and  they  are,  it  appears,  the  only  point 
of  interesting  debate  which  is  likely  to  come  on  before  the  holi- 
days. I  was  a  good  deal  comforted  by  learning  from  an  old  farmer 
yesterday,  that  the  year  after  the  American  war  things  went  still 
worse  with  men  of  his  situation  than  now,  and  that  the  signs  of 
the  times  were  still  less  promising  ;  yet  then  no  corn-bill,  I  be- 
lieve, was  thought  of  I  wish  you  would  give  me  some  little  sense 
on  this  difficult  question.  The  clergy  are  certainly  interested  to 
keep  the  price  up  ;  but  I  cannot,  as  yet,  admit  a  principle  so  appa- 
rently at  variance  with  political  economy,  as  any  of  the  measures 
which  the  newspapers  have  hitherto  offered ;  and  cannot  help  think- 
ing that  though  the  return  from  our  recent  unnatural  state  may  be 
painful,  it  is  better  to  discontinue,  as  soon  as  possible,  habits  which 
we  know  to  be  eventually  destructive.  At  all  events,  I  rather 
want  to  make  vip  my  own  mind,  in  order  that  I  may  have  some- 
thing to  say  to  my  neighbours,  who  are  all  wild  after  petitioning, 
and  whom  I  have  as  yet  exhorted  to  patience. 

"  Thank  you  for  your  communication  respecting  magic-lan- 
thorns ;  I  shall  be  very  happy  to  subscribe  to  the  Sieurs's  first  vo- 
lume, which  will,  indeed,  be  only  a  necessary  precaution,  since,  if 
he  enables  our  friends  and  neighbours  to  become  every  man  his 
own  conjurer,  the  iminitiated  will  walk  in  continual  terrours  of 
quicksilver,  phosphorus,  and  catoptric  mirrors  ;  never  be  able  to 
take  out  their  purse  in  a  stage-coach,  lest  the  gentleman  opposite 
should  swallow  it ;  nor  sit  down  without  receiving  a  slap  from  an 
invisible  hand.  I  only  wish  that  the  ingenious  author  may  be  able 
to  account  for  the  deception  which  is  related,  I  believe,  in  '  Wanley's 
Wonders,'  that  one  Zedekiah,  a  Jew  and  magician  in  ordinary  to 

3  I  2 


428  LETTER  TO  R.  J.  WILMOT,  ESQ. 

CHAP.     Wenceslaus,  King  of  Bohemia,   in  presence  of  the  kmg  and  his 

1815.'      nobles,  swallowed  the  court-jester,  or  clown,  all  save  his  shoes,  the 

same  being  then  very  dirty,  the  company  standing  by,  without  the 

said  jester  sustaining  any  injury ;  an  experiment  which  doubtless 

transcends  all  the  feats  of  the  Madras  jugglers. 

"  Believe  me,  your  obHged  and  affectionate 

"  Reginald  Heber." 

To  R.  J.  Wilmot,  Esq. 

Oxford,  April  lith,  1815. 

"  I  am  still  obliged  to  fag  very  hard  at  my  seventh  and  eighth 
sermons,  which  I  was  unable  to  finish  during  my  stay  in  the  country ; 
my  whole  time  and  attention  being  engrossed  by  some  very  un- 
pleasant circumstances  in  my  household',  which  have  ended  in 
my  dismissing  some  of  my  servants,  and  taking,  what  I  am  utterly 
unqualified  for,  themanagement  of  my  farm  into  my  own  hands. 

"  My  occupations  have  not,  however,  prevented  my  deriving 
much  pleasure  from  your  pamphlet,  though  it  is  more  warlike  than  I 
should,  a  priori,  have  expected  from  you.  I  find  that  James  %  who 
is  just  come  here,  and  some  other  people  know  that  you  are  the 
author.  I  should  have  guessed,  from  certain  internal  marks,  that 
it  was  yours,  if  you  had  not  let  me  into  the  secret. 

*'  Ever  your  obliged  friend, 

"  Reginald  Heber." 


'  A  short  time  previous  to  the  date  of  this  letter,  one  of  Mr.  Reginald  Heber's  servants 
had  been  suspected  of  dishonesty  ;  but  many  circumstances  concurred,  as  the  fact  had  not  been 
clearly  proved,  to  induce  him  to  give  the  man  another  trial.  In  a  letter  to  the  editor,  who 
was  from  home,  he  remarks,  "  God  knows  whether  I  liave  done  right  or  wrong,  but  1  have 
acted  as  I  thought  best  became  a  Christian.  It  has  been  rather  in  his  favour  that  I  took  his 
case  into  consideration  to-day  (Good-Friday ;)  for  when  a  man  is  praying  for  pardon  of  his  own 
sins,  he  is  seldom  much  inclined  to  visit  the  sins  of  others  very  severely." 

'  Tlie  Rev.  J.  T.  James,  who  succeeded  Mr.  Reginald  Heber  in  tlie  bishoprick  of  Cal- 
cutta.— Ed. 


LETTER  TO  R.  J.  WILMOT,  ESQ.  439 


To  R.  J.  Wilmot,  Esq. 

Hodnet  Rectory,  May  20tk,  1815. 

"  When  I  tell  you  that  I  had  not  finished  my  concluding 
Banipton  lecture  till  eleven  o'clock  on  the  Saturday  night  previous 
to  my  preaching  it,  you  may  well  believe  that  I  had  little  time  to 
write  any  thing  else. 

"  Since  my  arrival  here  I  have  been  busily  employed  in  tran- 
scribing and  finally  correcting  for  the  press,  a  task  which  weighs 
heavily  on  me,  as  I  have  now  no  curate,  and  the  season  is  so  sickly, 
that  between  visiting  the  dying  and  burying  the  dead,  my  time  is 
fully  employed.  My  friends  in  Oxford  have  given  me  very  oppo- 
site advice  as  to  whether  I  shall  send  my  sermons  to  press  imme- 
diately, or  keep  them  by  me  for  a  year.  Those  who  counsel  the 
last,  say  that  a  second  edition  of  Bampton  lectures  is  a  thing  not 
to  be  expected,  and  that  it  is  therefore  wise  to  make  them  as  correct 
as  possible  before  they  go  into  the  world.  Those  who  are  for 
a  speedy  publication,  urge  that  it  is  better  they  should  be  found 
fault  with  than  not  read  at  all,  and  that  Bampton  lectiues  when 
not  published  till  their  preachment  has  been  forgotten,  have  very 
seldom  any  great  circulation.  I  think,  though  half  measures  are 
almost  always  bad,  I  shall  divide  myself  between  the  two  opinions, 
and  shall  so  contrive,  if  possible,  as  to  have  them  make  their  ap- 
pearance immediately  after  the  long  vacation.  *  *  *  * 
I  am  most  heartily  glad  you  have  broken  the  ice  of  political  con- 
troversy. *  *  *  In  this,  as  in  every  thing  else,  it  is  little  more 
than  le  premier  pas  qui  coute,  and  when  a  man  has  once  got  the 
ear  of  the  world,  he  may,  if  he  have  any  adroitness,  say  almost 
what  he  will  to  her. 

"  A  report  prevailed  in  Oxford,  that  on  Abbott's  becoming  a 
peer,  it  was  the  intention  of  a  strong  party  in  Christ  Church  to  set 
up  Mr.  Peel.  Do  you  believe  any  thing  of  it  ?  You,  from  your 
contemporary  acquaintance,  are  likely  to  know  it  as  soon  as  most 


CHAP. 
XIII. 
1815. 


430  LETTER  TO  THE  REV.  GEORGE  WILKINS. 

CHAP,    people.     With  best  wishes  for  all  that  belong  to  you,  or  in  which 
i«'5.      your  happiness  is  interested, 

"  Believe  me  your  obliged  friend, 

"  Reginald  Heber." 

To  JR.  J.  TVilmot,  Esq. 

Hodnet  Rectory,  Nov.  14,  1815. 
"  We  had  only  just  returned  home  from  Wales  after  a  month's 
absence,  when  your  letter  arrived,  and  I  have  since  been  in  hot- 
water,  and  occupations  of  so  many  kinds,  that  I  have  not  had  time 
to  say  how  sorry  we  feel  at  not  having  it  in  our  power  to  come 
over  to  Catton  at  present,  especially  as  I  am,  in  consequence,  to 
miss  seeing  Hay.  Pray  tell  him  so,  with  thanks  for  his  letter, 
which  shall  have  a  separate  answer  so  soon  as  I  have  got  these  lec- 
tures off  my  shoulders,  which  at  present  have  worn  my  fingers  to 
the  stumps,  and  my  brains  to  the  lees.     I  hope  to  get  them  out 

in  the  course  of  next  month,  or  even  sooner. 

****** 

"  Have  you  any  fresh  political  engines  stirring,  or  what  do 
you  make  or  meditate  ?  For  me,  I  have  little  correspondence  but 
with  the  Clarendon  press ;  no  studies  but  Wagenseil's  '  Tela  Ignea 
SatancB ;  nor  any  anxiety  so  great  as  to  conform  myself  to  that 
truly  golden  rule,  '  Blessed  are  they  that  expect  nothing,  for  they 
shall  not  be  disappomted.'  " 

To  the  Reverend  George  Wilkins. 

"  Hodnet  Rectory,  Dec.  4,  1815. 
"  *  *  *  *      You  will  find  several  notes  in 

pencil  on  your  manuscript,  some  of  which  you  may  probably  con- 
sider as  hypercritical ;  but  as  the  common  errour  of  friends  is  to  be 
too  favourable,  I  have  not  only  restricted  myself  to  finding  fault, 
but  have  even  found  fault,  in  some  cases,  where  my  objection  was 
very  slight. 


LETTER  TO  E.  D.  DAVENPORT,  ESQ.  431 

"  You  will  now  allow  me  to  say  that  I  think  your  work  very  chap. 
much  improved  by  the  additions  and  alterations  which  it  has  """■ 
received  since  I  saw  it  before ;  and  that  I  sincerely  hope  it  will  be 
useful  to  the  world  and  productive  of  solid  reputation  to  yourself 
Your  narrative  is  told  in  a  very  spirited  and  unaffected  manner, 
and,  in  narrow  bounds,  a  great  deal  of  valuable  matter  is  com- 
prised. 

"  I  have  taken  the  liberty  to  keep  one  of  your  engraved 
pedigrees  of  the  Herod  family,  and  one  of  your  elegant  plans  of 
Jerusalem.  I  have  paid  considerable  attention  to  the  very  per- 
plexed account  which  Josephus  gives  us  as  to  the  fortifications  of 
liis  native  city,  and  have  compared  it  with  the  different  ideas  of 
Villalpardus,  Calmet,  Clarke,  &c.,  and  it  is  no  flattery  to  say  that 
your  system  reconciles  the  difficulties  better  than  any  other  which 
I  have  met  with. 

"  Ever  your's  most  truly, 

"  Reginald  Heber." 

To  E.  D.  Davenport,  Esq. 

Hodnet  Rectory,  Jan.  2,  1816. 
"  My  Dear  Davenport, 

"  I  deferred  several  days  writing  to  you,  in  the  idea 
that  I  should  be  able  to  say  something  definite  as  to  our  time  of 
visiting  Catton,  but  our  schemes  of  amusement  have  suffered  a 
material  derangement  by  a  tooth,  which  first  kept  me  awake 
several  nights  in  intense  pain,  then  swelled  my  face  to  a  size  little 
less  than  the  turban  of  a  Sherife,  and,  lastly,  laid  me  on  my  back 
in  a  high  fever,  and  blind  of  an  eye,  in  what  my  apothecary  called 
'  a  superinduced  paroxysm  of  regular  erysipelas.'  This  unjilea- 
sant  guest  has  at  length  taken  its  leave  ;  but  my  eye  is  still  weak, 
and  I  am  altogether  in  an  unfit  state  to  leave  the  house  during  the 
present  seasonable  weather.  I  am  sorry  to  learn  that  you  have 
yourself  been  plagued  in  a  way  not  altogether  dissimilar ;  let  us 
hear  how  you  are  as  soon  as  it  ceases  to  be  too  severe  a  task  on 


43-2  "  CHAMPION." 

CHAP,  your  eyes ;  and  pray  arrange  matters  so  as  that  you  may  meet  the 
1816.  Wihnots  here  in  February.  You  are,  I  conchide,  nay  hope,  since 
the  contrary  would  be  a  strong  mark  of  indisposition,  a  bird  of 
passage ;  but  I  shall  continue  to  direct  to  you  at  Capesthorne,  as 
the  best  prospect  of  avoiding  the  same  mischance  which  has  be- 
fallen my  letter  to  Brussels.  Believe  me,  you  could  not  suspect 
me  of  wilfully  dropping  our  correspondence,  if  you  knew  how  much 
I  have  been  annoyed  at  its  cessation." 

To  R.  W.  Hay,  Esq. 

Hodnet  Rectory,  March  8, 1816. 
"  Your  '  Champion'  interested  me  a  good  deal,  though  the 
subject  of  his  discussion  was  not  quite  what  I  expected.  I  feared 
to  meet  with  the  old  pleadings  over  agam  *  in  the  matter  of 
Tweddell,'  and  was  heartily  glad  to  find  that  the  subject  was  one 
of  more  general  interest.  Who  is  Scott  ? — what  is  his  breeding 
and  history  ?  He  is  so  decidedly  the  ablest  of  the  weekly  jour- 
nalists, and  has  so  much  excelled  his  illustrious  namesake  as  a 
French  tourist,  that  I  feel  considerable  cvuiosity  about  him.     For 

Lord  E he  has  made  a  very  good  case,  but  has  cautiously 

avoided  touching  on  the  more  doubtful  feature  of  his  conduct  at 
Athens,  the  injury  alleged  to  have  been  done  to  some  of  the  build- 
ings,— the  ruin  of  a  temple,  for  instance,  by  removing  one  of  its 
caryatides.  As  to  the  expediency  of  purchasing  the  collection  for 
the  national  gallery,  I  think  his  reasoning  very  just ;  and  I  cannot 
help  thinking  that,  though  stinginess  is,  at  the  present  time,  a 
very  natural  and  laudable  feeling,  as  far  as  public  money  is  con- 
cerned,   that  means  may  be  found   of  obtaining  the   collection 

without  materially  deserving  Mr.  B 's  reprehension.     If  the 

sum  at  which  the  antiques  are  appraised  be  so  large  as  to  give 
offence  even  to  the  poorest  midshipman  now  unprovided  for,  why 
not  give  it  in  the  shape  of  an  annuity  ?  Fifty  thousand  pounds  at 
one  payment  sounds  alarming ;  and  there  are  many  people  in  the 
country  who  would  fancy  they  felt  their  fractional  part  of  even 


DISTRESSES  OF  THE  COUNTRY.  4:^-3 

20,000/.  in  the  next  half  year's  property  tax  which  they  have  to  chap. 
pay ;  but  5000/.  a  year  for  life  has  not  so  formidable  an  appear-  '^^^- 
ance  ;  and  2000/.  is  a  flea-bite  not  to  be  put  in  large  letters  even  in 
the  most  factious  county  chronicle,  both  the  editors  and  readers  of 
which  are  at  present  in  a  disposition  to  think  a  payment  two  years 
hence  far  more  tolerable  than  even  a  better  bargain  for  which 
ready  money  would  be  reqviired. 

"  Talking  of  newspapers,  I  observe  in  the  '  Champion'  what 
I  regard  as  one  of  the  least  pleasing  signs  of  the  time,  that  its 
editor,  though  feeling  a  bias  towards  the  kingly  side  of  the  ques- 
tion, and  approving,  apparently,  of  the  conduct  of  ministers,  is 
afraid  of  speaking  out,  and  assumes  a  sort  of  independent  slang. 
Now  I  do  not  care  a  rush  what  his  sentiments  may  be  on  tliese 
subjects  so  far  as  the  ministers  themselves  are  concerned ;  but  I  am 
convinced  that  a  tory  feeling  is  that  which  it  is  for  the  happiness 
of  the  country  to  cherish  ;  and  that  when  this  is  unfashionable,  and 
its  open  avowal  unpopular,  a  feverish  and  uncomfortable  state  is 
implied.  A  few  years  ago  any  expressions  favourable  to  France 
or  Buonaparte,  or  what,  for  want  of  a  better  word,  we  must  call 
Jacobinism,  were  used  with  diffidence  and  fear,  as  if  the  person 
who  used  them  was  conscious  that  he  belonged  to  the  minority  of 
his  country.  Now,  with  the  exception  of  the  Morning  Post,  which 
is  utterly  below  criticism  one  way  or  the  other,  there  is  hardly  any 
political  essayist  who  docs  not,  whatever  may  be  his  wishes,  affect 
a  contrary  feehng ;  and  the  provincial  papers,  without  exception, 
are  little  less  than  factious.  It  is  a  singular  circumstance  that  all 
the  pohtical  information  which  the  lowest  classes  receive,  goes 
through  a  medium  of  this  kind, — that  those  who  only  see  a  news- 
paper once  a  week  are  sure  to  see  in  it  personal  reflections  on  the 
regent,  angry  remonstrances  about  sinecures  and  large  establish- 
ments, interesting  anecdotes  of  Buonaparte,  and  long  extracts 
from  Cobbett  and  Leigh  Hunt.  I  suppose  it  is  because  the  world 
has  nothing  else  to  think  about,  that  the  increase  of  grumbling 
since  the  peace  has  certainly  more  than  kept  pace  with  the  in- 
creased difficulties  of  the  landed  interest.     1  cannot  help  thinking 

VOL.  I.  3    K 


434  DISTRESSES  OF  THE  COUNTRY. 

CHAP,  that  you  would  do  a  good  service  to  the  country  if  you  made  the 
i«i5-  causes  of  the  present  discontents  the  subject  of  an  article  in  the 
Quarterly.  They  are  all  of  a  nature  in  which  ministers  are  not 
concerned,  and  I  am  far  from  sure  that,  to  any  great  extent, 
ministers  can  apply  a  remedy.  There  is  much  more  in  the  power 
of  the  country  gentlemen ;  and  something  might  be  effected  by  a 
true,  though  consolatory  statement  of  the  bright  side  of  our  pros- 
pects, and  the  reasonable  grounds  of  hope  that  the  present  dis- 
tresses are  Hkely  to  be  only  temporary.  Pray  turn  this  in  your 
mind ;  it  can  be  best  done  by  a  man  who  lives  in  the  world,  and 
who  can  have  access  to  calculations,  &c.  Figures,  properly  ar- 
ranged, have  a  wonderful  effect  on  the  minds  of  Englishmen  ;  and 
I  really  think  you  may  do  good  service  to  the  country  by  a  paper, 
something  on  the  plan  of  Southey's  on  Paisley,  but  going  deeper 
into  the  causes  of  the  bitterness  of  the  public  mind,  and  the  abso- 
lute necessity  which  exists  that  men  of  property  should  make 
some  more  considerable  sacrifices  than  they  are  now  inclined  to  do, 
for  the  sake  of  pviblic  tranquillity. 

"  My  wife  desires  her  kindest  regards  to  you  ;  she  and  I  were 
much  concerned  that  you  could  not  accompany  the  Wilmots  here. 
Pray  calculate  so  as  to  include  us  in  your  next  leave  of  absence." 

The  following  lines  were  proposed  by  Mr.  Reginald  Heber  as 
an  inscription  for  the  vase  presented  to  Sir  Watkin  Williams  Wynn, 
by  the  nobility  and  gentry  of  Denbighshire,  at  the  conclusion  of 
the  war  in  1815  : 

"  Ask  ye  why  around  me  twine 
Tendrils  of  the  Gascon  vine  ? 
Ask  ye  why,  in  martial  pride, 
SciiljJtured  lam-els  deck  my  side. 
Blended  with  that  noble  tree, 
Badge  of  Albion's  liberty  ? 
Cambria  me,  for  glory  won 
By  the  waves  of  broad  Garronne, 
Sends  to  gi-eet  her  bravest  son ; 
Proved  beyond  the  western  deep. 
By  rebel  clans  on  Ulster's  steep ; 


LETTER  TO  E.  D.  DAVENPORT,  ESQ.  435 

Proved,  where  fu'st  on  Gallia's  plain,  CHAI". 

The  banish'd  lily  bloom'd  again  ;  f^air' 

And  prov'd  where  ancient  bounty  calls  : 

The  ti-aveller  to  his  father's  halls  ! 

Nor  mar%'ell,  then,  that  round  me  twine 

The  oak,  the  laurel,  and  the  vine ; 

For  thus  was  Cambria  wont  to  see 

Her  Hirlas-hom  of  victory  : 

Nor  Cambria  e'er,  in  days  of  yore, 

To  worthier  chief  the  Hiiias  bore  !" 

To  E.  D.  Davenport,  Esq. 

Hodnet,  March  l-ith,  1816. 

"  Dear  Davenport, 

"  I  feel  that  I  have  too  long  neglected  to  thank  you 
for  the  kind  and  useful  warning  which  you  sent  me  from  Lichfield, 
of  which  I  did  not  fail  to  take  advantage,  though  whether  any 
further  benefit  is  likely  to  accrue  to  me  from  the  ci-devant  Old 
Bank ',  than  the  excellent  appetite  produced  by  a  long  ride  on  a 
snowy  and  rainy  day,  is  as  yet  in  the  darkness  of  futurity. 

"  The  farmers  in  this  neighbourhood  speak  very  despondingly 
of  the  bankrupt's  sufficiency ;  but  at  the  present  moment  a  farmer 
is  disposed  to  look  on  every  thing  in  the  most  unfavourable  and 
hopeless  light.  The  Old  Bank  at  Shrewsbury  (on  whose  shoulders 
all  the  subsequent  defaulters  lay  the  blame  of  their  own  difficul- 
ties) is  expected  to  recommence  immediately,  more  strong  from  its 
fall       ********* 

"  I  congratulate  you  most  sincerely  on  your  having  so  well 
arranged  the  letting  of  your  farms.  Verily,  for  those  who  can  per- 
severe in  a  course  of  losing  for  a  few  months  longer,  farming,  I 
believe,  will  turn  out  a  profitable  concern,  inasmuch  as  it  will 
approach  nearer  to  a  monopoly  than  it  has  done  for  many  years 
past.  Yet,  amid  all  these  distresses,  with  the  exception  of  a  few 
flannel  merchants  in  Shrewsbury,  nobody  in  this  neighbourhood 
has  petitioned  against  the  income  tax.     I  do  not  ascribe  this  to 

'  At  Nantwich,  by  the  failure  of  which  house   Mr.  Reginald  Heber  was  a  considerable 
loser. — Ed. 

3k  2 


436  LETTER  TO  THE  REV.  GEORGE  WILKINS. 

(HAP.    patience,  much  less  to  indifference,  but  simply  to  the  persuasion, 
'81"-      which  in  this  neighbourhood  is  very  prevalent,   that  to  petition 
would  be  only  useless  trouble,  and  I  believe  to  some  remains  of 
the  old  confidence  in  that  identity  of  interests,  which  De  Lolme 
extols,  between  the  representatives  and  the  represented. 

"  I  feel  curious  to  know  whether  the  necessities  of  the  country 
gentlemen  have  rendered  London  duller  than  usual.  Do  more  men 
dine  at  clubs,  and  give  fewer  parties  ?  Are  routs  less  crowded  ? 
or  has  bankruptcy  produced,  as  it  often  does,  a  greater  display,  and 
more  eagerness  to  conceal  the  poverty  of  which  men  are  conscious  ? 
I  should  fancy  that,  as  the  present  times  are  such  as  midoubtedly 
neither  you  nor  I  have  seen  before,  and  such  as  there  is  good 
reason  to  hope  we  shall  neither  of  us  fall  in  with  again,  the  beha- 
viour of  mankind  under  their  pressure  might,  to  a  philosopher  like 
yourself,  be  not  uninteresting.  Nor  can  your  lucubrations  be 
communicated  to  one  who  will  receive  them  more  gladly  than, 

"  Dear  Davenport, 

"  Your  obliged  friend, 

"  Reginald  Heber." 

To  the  Rev.  George  Wilk'ms. 

Hodnet  Rectory,  March  16,  1816. 
"  My  Dear  Sir, 

"  After  a  pilgrimage  little  less  tedious  than  that  of 
Mirza  Abu  Taleb  Khan,  your  beautiful  manuscript  of  Hafiz  is  at 
length  safely  arrived.  Allow  me  to  offer  you  my  best  thanks  for 
so  valuable  a  present,  which  will  make  a  very  conspicuous  figure 
in  my  humble  collection.  I  shall  always  look  at  it  with  pleasure, 
as  recalling  to  mind  the  confidence  with  which  you  have  flattered 
me,  and  as  encouraging  the  hope  that,  notwithstanding  our  distance 
and  occupations,  we  may  still,  at  no  distant  time,  contrive  a  meet- 
ing, and  thus  put  an  end  to  the  solecism  of  a  friendship  carried  on 
without  personal  acquaintance. 

"  Yours  very  truly, 

"  Reginald  Heber." 


EASTERN  POETRY.  437 

In  looking  over  some  prose  translations  of  the  Shah  Nameh     ciivi'. 

°  "^  XIII. 

of  Ferdusi,  and  the  Moallakah  of  Hareth,  Mr,  Reginald  Heber  was      '^'''• 
so  much  struck  with  the  beauty  of  the  oriental  imagery  which  they 
present,  that  he  versified  the  two  following  passages  : 

SPEECH  OF  GEOORGIN  TO  BEYUN. 

(From  the  Shah  Nameh.) 

Seest  thou  yon  shelter'd  vale  of  various  dye, 

Refreshing  prospect  to  tlie  warrior's  eye  ? 

Yon  dusky  grove,  yon  garden  blooming  fair, 

Tlie  turf  of  velvet,  and  of  musk  the  air  ? 

Siurcharg'd  with  sweets  the  languid  river  glides, 

Tlie  lilies  bending  o'er  its  silver  tides  ; 

While  through  the  copse  in  bashfiil  beauty  glows 

Tlie  dark  luxuriance  of  the  lurking  rose. 

Now  seen,  now  lost,  amid  the  floweiy  maze, 

With  slender  foot  the  nimble  pheasant  strays ; 

The  ring-dove's  murmur  lulls  the  cj'press  dell, 

And  richest  notes  of  tranced  Philomel. 

Still,  still  the  same,  through  every  circling  year, 

Unwearied  spring  renews  an  Eden  here. 

And  mark,  my  friend,  where  many  a  sylph-like  maid 

Weaves  the  lithe  dance  beneath  the  citron  shade  ! 

Wliere  chief,  of  Touran's  king  the  matchless  child, 

Beams  like  a  sun-ray  through  tliis  scented  wild ; 

Sitara  next,  her  sister,  beauteous  queen, 

Tlian  rose  or  fairest  jasmine  fairer  seen ; 

And  last,  their  Tm'kish  maids,  whose  sleepy  eyes 

Laugh  from  beneath  each  envious  veil's  disguise  , 

Whose  length  of  locks  the  coal-black  musk  disclose. 

Their  forms  the  cypress,  and  their  cheeks  the  rose ; 

While  on  their  sugar'd  lips  the  grape's  rich  water  glows. 

How  blest  the  traveller  not  forbid  to  stay 

In  such  sweet  bowers  the  scorching  summer's  day  ! 

How  fam'd  the  knight  whose  dauntless  arm  should  bear 

To  great  Khi-Kusroo's  coiut  a  Turkish  fair  ! 


438  EASTERN  POETRY. 


CHAP. 
XIII. 
18IG. 


FROM  THE  MOALLAKAH  OF  HARETH. 

And  Asma!  lovely  sojoiu-ner !  wilt  thou  forsake  our  land. 

Forgetful  of  thy  plighted  vows  on  Shamma's  glittering  sand .? 

No  more  in  Shoreb's  rugged  dell  I  see  thee  by  my  side, 

No  more  in  Katha's  mead  of  green  where  vocal  waters  glide  ! 

In  Ayla  and  in  Shobathan  all  lonely  must  I  go, 

And,  therefore,  sleep  has  fled  my  soul,  and  fast  my  sorrows  flow  ! 

Yet  am  I  loved,  and  yet  my  eyes  behold  the  beacon  light 
Which  Hinda  kindles  on  her  hill,  to  lure  me  through  the  night, 
Broad  as  the  dawn,  from  Akik's  brow  its  ruddy  embers  shine, 
But  Hinda's  heart  may  never  meet  an  answering  glow  in  mine  ! 
And  I  must  seek  a  nobler  aid  against  consuming  care, 
Where  all  the  brethren  of  my  tribe  the  battle  bow  prepare. 

My  camel  with  the  mother-bu'd  in  swiftness  well  may  vie, 
Tall  as  a  tent,  'mid  desert  sands  that  reai-s  her  progeny. 
That  lists  the  murmiur  of  the  breeze,  the  hunter's  lightest  sound 
With  stealthy  foot  at  twilight  fall  soft  gliding  o'er  the  ground  ; 

But  not  the  ostrich  speed  of  fire  my  camel  can  excell, 
Whose  footstep  leaves  so  light  a  mark  we  guess  not  where  it  fell ; 
Now  up,  now  down,  like  wither'd  leaves  that  flit  before  the  wind, 
On  her  I  stem  the  burning  noon  that  strikes  the  vahant  blind. 

Yes,  we  have  heard  an  angry  sound  of  danger  from  afar, 

Oin-  brother's  bands  of  Tayleb's  seed  have  braved  us  to  the  war  ; 

The  good  and  evil  they  confoimd,  their  words  are  fierce  and  fell, 

"  Their  league,"  say  they,  "  is  with  the  tribe  that  in  the  desert  dwell." 

Their  men  of  might  have  met  by  night,  and  as  the  day  began, 

A  proud  and  a  disdainful  shout  throughout  their  army  ran, 

And  horses  neighed,  and  camels  screamed,  and  man  cried  out  on  man  ! 


CHAPTER  XIV. 


Death  of  the  Rev.  T.  C.  Heher — "  Timour''s  Councils" — Milmari's  "  Siege  of  Jerusa- 
lem"— Heads  of  a  proposed  pamphlet  "On  the  Causes  of  the  present  Discontents'^ 
— Kinneir's  "  Travels  in  Asia  Minor" — "  Childe  Harold" — Mr.  Reginald  He- 
befs  appointment  as  University  Preacher — Fragment  of  the  "Masque  of  Gwen- 
dolen"— Bowdlefs  "  Select  Pieces  in  Prose  and  Verse" — Tlie  distresses  of  the 
country — Anecdote  of  a  heggar — Treatise  on  the  distinction  between  the  two 
Maries. 


In  the  year  1816  Mr.  Reginald  Heber  sustained  a  heavy  affliction 

in  the  loss  of  his  youngest  brother,  Thomas  Cuthbert,  who  died      xiv." 


from  the  rupture  of  a  vessel  on  the  brain,  after  a  short  illness,  on 
the  27th  of  March.  A  similarity  of  age,  education,  and  profes- 
sion had  united  them  with  more  than  ordinary  fraternal  affection. 
From  infancy  they  had  seldom  been  separated ;  and  the  younger 
brother  had  acted  as  curate  to  the  elder  till  the  year  before  his 
death,  when  he  removed  to  his  own  perpetual  curacy  of  Moreton 
See.  The  blow  thus  fell  with  peculiar  weight ;  under  its  influence 
the  hymn  for  the  foui-th  Svmday  after  the  Epiphany  was  composed, 
and  the  original  manuscript  contained  the  following  stanza : 

"  He  called  me  by  a  brother's  bier. 
As  down  I  knelt  to  prayer, 
But  ah  !  though  sorrow  shed  the  tear, 
Repentance  was  not  there !" 

From  this  time  forward  it  was  Mr.  Reginald  Heber's  constant 

1 


181G. 


440  DEATH  OF  THE  REV.  T.  C.  HEBER. 


CHAP,  custom  to  consecrate  every  important  occurrence  of  his  life  by  a 
1816.'     short  prayer.     Several  of  these  aspirations  have  unfortunately  been 

""  lost  in  the  various  removals  of  his  papers ;  but  such  as  are  pre- 

served will  be  given  according  to  their  dates.  On  his  birth-day  in 
this  year  he  writes,  "  completed  my  thirty-third  year.  Oh  omni- 
jjotens  et  sempiterne  Deus,  da  veiiiam peccatis  annorum  pfceterito- 
rum  et  concedas,  precor,  id  quicquid  vitce  sit  reliquum  melius  sit  et 
sapientius  prceteritA.  Exaudi  me,  Deus,  per  merita  Jesu  Christi. 
Amen." 

To  R.  J.  Wilmot,  Esq. 

Hodnet  Rectory,  April  8,  1816. 
"  Thank  you  sincerely  for  your  kind  condolence  under  our 
very  great  and  unexpected  calamity.  We  have  all  borne  it  so 
much  the  worse  for  having  been  flattered  by  the  appearance  of 
gradual  recovery,  from  the  time  of  my  poor  brother's  first  seizure, 
to  the  moment  of  his  fatal  relapse ;  and  still  more,  I  think,  from  a 
sort  of  feeling  that  we  hardly  appreciated  his  worth  while 
living  ;  certainly  that  we  were  not  aware  of  half  the  acts  of  kind- 
ness and  liberality  which  we  now  find  that,  with  a  small  income, 
he  was  in  the  constant  habit  of  performing  in  this  neighbourhood. 
The  poor  speak  of  his  kindness  and  good-nature  with  a  regret  which 
is  painfully  flattering.  To  his  brothers,  his  singvdar  disinterested- 
ness, his  warmth  of  attachment,  and  devotion  to  their  service  and 
prospects,  can  never  be  replaced ;  and  he  formed  so  prominent  an 
object  in  all  my  airy  schemes  of  ambition  and  utility ;  I  miss  him 
so  continually  in  my  walks  and  my  study,  that  I  can  scarcely  help 
feeling  that  there  is  only  one  being  in  the  world  whom  I  could 
have  worse  spared.  He  had  himself  had  several  vexations  and 
disappointments,  which,  though  of  a  hasty  temper,  he  bore  with 
philosophy  and  almost  indifference  ;  but  where  the  happiness  of  a 
friend  was  concerned,  his  whole  heart  was  engaged  ;  and  there  was 
no  labour  or  inconvenience  which  he  would  not  incur,  almost  with- 


"TIMOUR'S  COUNCILS."  441 

out  knowine  that  he  made  a  sacrifice.     I  never  knew  so  warm  a    chap. 
heart  which  felt  so  httle  for  itself;  or  one  whose  few  faults  were,      '^ic! 
apparently,  in  so  fair  a  way  of  being  corrected,  when  He,  who  in 
all  things  determines  best,  thought  fit  to  remove  him. 

"  These  are  early  days  of  mourning,  and  I  cannot  yet  be  sup- 
posed to  have  abated  hi  my  sorrow.  I  sometimes  think  I  have 
hardly  yet  begun  to  feel  so  much  as  I  shall  do  hereafter.  There 
are  moments  when  all  seems  an  illusion.  I  think  my  sister  feels 
our  loss  the  most ;  but  she  has  concealed  her  grief  from  my  mo- 
ther with  a  spirit  which  might  shame  an  old  Roman." 

Mr.  Reginald  Heber's  literary  pursuits  were  never  for  any 
long  interval  suspended ;  more  various  and  excursive  than  those 
of  almost  any  of  his  contemporaries,  they  found  riches  in  every 
soil.  It  is  curious  to  see  the  raw  materials  frojii  which  he  would 
occasionally  work,  and  the  poetry  which  he  could  extract  from  a 
solitary  fact. 

In  a  review  of  Sir  John  Malcolm's  "  History  of  Persia," 
which  appeared  at  this  time  in  the  Quarterly ',  he  introduces  a 
prophecy  of  the  death  of  Timour,  or  Tamerlane,  who,  "  after  found- 
ing an  empire  more  extensive  than  the  hfe  of  any  other  man  has 
sufficed  to  traverse,  was  arrested,  like  a  tyrant  of  later  days,  in  his 
schemes  of  universal  sovereignty,  by  the  rigours  of  a  premature 
winter,  which  prevented  his  march  to  China,"  He  died  at  Otrar, 
seventy-six  leagues  from  Samarcand.  "  This  event,"  he  observes, 
"  almost  naturally  slides  into  poetry." 

TIMOUR'S  COUNCILS. 

Emirs  and  Klians  in  long  array, 
To  Timour's  council  bent  their  way ; 
The  lordly  Tartar,  vaunting  high. 
The  Persian  with  dejected  eye. 
The  vassal  Russ,  and,  lured  from  far, 
Circassia's  mercenary  war. 

'  Vol.  XV. 
VOL.  I.  3    L 


442  "TIMOUR'S  COUNCILS." 

(HAP  But  one  there  came,  uncall'd  and  last, 

^gYe  The  spirit  of  the  wintry  blast ! 

==^=  He  mark'd,  while  wrapt  in  mist  he  stood. 

The  purpos'd  track  of  spoil  and  blood ; 
He  mark'd,  unmov'd  by  mortal  woe, 
That  old  man's  eye  of  swarthy  glow ; 
Tliat  restless  soul,  whose  single  pride 
Was  cause  enough  that.miUions  died ; 
He  heai-d,  he  saw,  till  envy  woke, 
And  thus  the  voice  of  thunder  spoke  : — 
"  And  liop'st  thou  thus,  in  pride  imfurl'd. 
To  bear  those  bamiers  thro'  the  world  ? 
Can  time  nor  space  thy  toils  defy  ? 
Oh  king,  thy  fellow-demon  I ! 
Servants  of  Death,  aUke  we  sweep 
The  wasted  earth,  or  shrinking  deep. 
And  on  the  land,  and  o'er  the  wave, 
We  reap  the  harvest  of  the  grave. 
But  thickest  then  that  harvest  lies, 
And  wildest  sorrows  rend  the  skies. 
In  darker  cloud  the  vultures  sail, 
And  richer  carnage  taints  the  gale. 
And  few  the  mourners  that  remain, 
Wlien  winter  leagues  with  Tamerlane  ! 
But  on,  to  work  om-  lord's  decree  ; 
Then,  tyrant,  turn,  and  cope  with  me  ! 
And  learn,  though  far  thy  trophies  shine, 
How  deadher  are  my  blasts  than  thine  ! 
Nor  cities  burnt,  nor  blood  of  men, 
Nor  thine  own  pride  shaU  warm  thee  then  ! 
Forth  to  thy  task  !  We  meet  again 
On  wild  Chabanga's  fl'ozen  plain  !" 


To  R.  TV.  Hmj,  Esq. 

Hodnet  Rectory,  August  8,  ISIG. 

"  A  severe  fit  of  rheumatism  is  almost  worth  having  when  it 
serves  as  a  shoeing-horn  to  draw  on  such  a  tour  as  you  propose  to 
yourself.  I  am  heartily  sorry,  however,  that  you  have  so  bad  a 
reason  for  going  to  the  Tyrol,  and  trust  that  the  hot  waters  of 
Gastein  will  do  all  that  yom*  friends  can  wish  them.     You  are 


MILMAN'S  "  SIEGE  OF  JERUSALEM."  443 

very  good  to  recollect  so  favourably  the  few  hints  which  I  was    chap. 
able  to  give  you  in  your  southern  Russian  tour.     The  regions      i^tc. 
which  you  have  now  to  pass  through  I  only  know  as  Parnell's 
hermit  knew  the  world,  by  books  and  swains,  since,  when  I  was  in 
Austria,  the  emperor  Napoleon  had  made  the  best  part  of  Europe 

a  terra  sigillata  to  the  English.     K ,  whom  I  believe  you 

may  still  find  at  Stutgard,  you  know  as  well  as  I  do.  If  you 
should  have  time  and  inclination  to  go  on  to  Vienna,  which  is  a 
tour  that  all  the  Austrians  will  advise  you  to  make,  I  could  give 
you  some  few  letters  which  might  be  useful ;  and  the  neighbouring 
hot-baths  at  Baden  are  greatly  renowned  for  their  stimulating 
powers.  I  am  sorry  that  you  and  Wilmot  have  not  contrived  to 
make  yoiu-  tour  together. 

"  Ever  your  obliged  friend, 

"  Reginald  Heber." 

"  Murray  has  sent  me  a  copy  of  a  glorious  poem  by  Milman 
on  the  fall  of  Jerusalem,  which  he  wishes  me  to  review  imme- 
diately.    I  have  looked  at  some  parts  and  been  delighted  with  it." 

To  R.  H.  Inglis,  Esq. 

Bodryddati,  October  25,  181 G. 

"  My  Dear  Inglis, 

"  Thornton  tells  me  that  you  have  kindly  taken 
the  trouble  to  make  some  marginal  notes  on  my  Lectures.  I  am 
now  about  to  send  out  a  new  edition;  and  should  regard  your 
friendly  criticisms  as  a  very  valuable  help  in  my  necessary  task  of 
correction  and  improvement.  I  certainly  will  not  promise  implicit 
obedience  to  your  suggestions ;  but  I  will  promise  them  a  very 
attentive  consideration  ;  and  I  have  already  derived  so  much 
advantage  from  similar  communications,  that  you  may  rely  on  my 
being  both  patient  and  docile  under  your  lash.  If  your  observa- 
tions are  not  too  numerous  for  transcription  within  the  bovmds  of 
a  large  sheet  of  paper,  such  a  letter  directed  to  me  at  Hodnet, 

3  L  2 


444  LETTER  TO  R.  J.  WILMOT,  ESQ. 

CHAP,  near  Shrewsbury,  will  be  thankfully  received ;  or  if  you  will  send 
^8^"-  your  copy  of  the  Lectures  to  Hatchard's,  it  will  be  forwarded  to 
me ;  and  I  will  take  all  possible  care  of  it.  I  believe  Hatchard  is 
in  no  great  hurry  for  the  second  edition  ;  and,  therefore,  I  am 
naturally  anxious  to  send  it  out  in  as  improved  a  state  as  I  can ; 
but  I  trust,  at  farthest,  another  three  weeks  will  enable  me  to  send 
it  to  him,  with  all  the  advantage  of  your  castigation. 

"  I  write  this  letter  from  North  Wales,  where  my  wife  and  1 
are  paying  our  annual  visit ;  but  I  return  to  Hodnet  next  week. 
All  here  are  in  great  alarm  about  the  harvest,  which  is  as  yet  very 
partially  stacked,  and  some  not  even  reaped.  In  Shropshire  we 
are  more  forward  ;  and  the  crops  were  not  deficient  in  quantity, 
but  the  quality  very  bad  indeed ;  some  nearly  spoiled  by  the  rain, 

and  some  ruined  by  being  stacked  in  too  great  a  hurry. 

***** 

"  Dear  Inglis, 

"  Ever  your  affectionate  friend, 

"  Reginald  Heber." 


To  R.  J.  Wilmot,  Esq. 

Hodnet  Rectory,  November  5,  1816. 

"  My  Dear  Wilmot, 

"  I  must  answer  both  your  letters  together,  as  your 
first,  having  to  follow  me  into  Wales,  only  arrived  two  days  before 
your  second.  And  '  First  of  the  First,'  as  our  ancient  divines  used 
to  say  in  dividing  a  sermon,  I  need  not  say  that  it  gave  me  much 
pleasure  to  hear  of  your  safe  return  to  England,  and  that  your 
tour  had,  in  all  its  circumstances,  answered  your  expectations.  I 
am  hardly  sure  whether  it  is  a  selfish  unwillingness  to  lose  you  for 
so  long  a  time,  or  from  a  disinterested  opinion  that  a  pro- 
tracted absence  abroad  may,  in  more  ways  than  one,  be  disadvan- 
tageous to  your  ultimate  and  English  views,  that  I  feel  some  alarm 
at  the  hints  which  you  drop  of  an  extensive  Italian  journey  and 


HEADS  OF  A  PAMPHLET  ON  POPULAR  DISCONTENT.  445 

residence  on  the  continent  next  year.     Perhaps,  however,  I  do  not    chap. 

understand  your  schemes  rightly.     In  the  mean  time,  for  I  know  '^"^__ 

you  cannot  be  idle,  what  are  you  going  to  do  ?  The  times  are 
very  favourable  for  one  way  of  aiming  at  distinction,  and  I  cannot 
help  thinking  you  might  do  well  to  try  your  hand  at  a  pamphlet, 
'  On  the  causes  of  the  present  discontents,  by  the  author  of  a 
letter,  &c.'  You  write  rapidly,  and  you  have  the  means  of  getting 
as  much  official  information  as  would  serve  your  purpose  without 
encumbering  you.  *  *  *  * 

Such  a  pamphlet  as  I  should  expect  from  you,  might,  I  think,  be 
of  real  service  to  the  country,  in  which  there  seems  to  prevail,  at 
present,  among  the  higher  ranks,  a  singular  blindness  to  the  feel- 
ings of  the  larger  half  of  the  country  ;  and  with  the  low^er  orders  a 
still  more  fatal  disposition  to  view  through  a  very  distorted 
medium  every  action  of  their  superiors,  and  every  circumstance 
of  the  real  situation  of  the  country.  You  might,  on  the  one  hand, 
point  out  how  little  reason  for  such  complaints  really  exists  in  the 
conduct  of  the  higher  classes,  when  fairly  stated ;  and  how  fair  a 
prospect  we  have  that  our  difficulties,  if  we  are  not  impatient 
under  them,  may  gradually  pass  away.  The  real  amount  of 
sinecures,  of  the  expenses  of  the  civil  list,  &c.  which  have,  I 
apprehend,  been  greatly  and  wilfully  exaggerated,  might  be  given 
and  compared  with  those  of  other  countries,  particularly  of  France 
under  Buonaparte.  You  might,  on  the  other  hand,  enlarge  on 
the  utter  madness  of  despising  popular  clamour,  whether  unjust  or 
no,  when  it  is  little  less  than  universal, — on  the  natural  excuse 
which  such  clamour  may  plead,  where  great  real  want  is  contrasted 
with  great  real  or  apparent  prodigality.  You  might  give  your 
opinions,  whatever  they  may  be,  on  reform  in  Parliament,  though 
you  must,  as  I  conceive,  admit  that  the  practical  benefits  of  such 
a  measure  would  be  doubtful  and  far  from  immediate.  The  best 
practical  manner  of  reducing  public  expense  might  be  enquired 

into,  and  what  has  been  done  fairly  stated.  *  * 

******  * 

"  Here  also  a  fair  exposition  of  the  expense  and  counterba- 


446  HEADS  OF  A  PAMPHLET  ON  POPULAR  DISCONTENT. 

CHAP,  lancina:  advantages  of  our  French  army  mieht  come  in  ;  unifonns, 
mi  fetes,  &c.  might  be  introduced,  if  you  thought  it  expedient,  since 
all  these  have  fanned  the  flame  which  now  burns  in  the  minds  of 
the  common  people ;  and  you  might  conclude  by  a  paroenesis  to 
the  gentry  of  England  to  exert  themselves  in  recovering  their  lost 
popularity  ;  pointing  out  the  necessity,  in  particular,  of  relaxing 
the  game  laws,  of  residence  on  their  property,  and  improving  the 
condition  of  the  cottager. 

"  Such  a  pamphlet  as  I  shoidd  hope  to  see  from  you,  written 
in  no  party  spirit,  with  something  of  the  tone  of  a  reformer,  and 
something  of  aristocratic  prejudice,  secretly  inclining  to  the  tory 
side  of  the  question,  but  sufficiently  and,  perhaps,  ostentatiously 
just  to  the  other,  and,  above  all,  enlarging  on  practical  remedies, 
and  on  those  points  where  the  people  really  feel  themselves 
aggrieved,  (for  parliamentary  reform  they  do  not  care)  might  be 
very  generally  popular  and  do  much  good ;  passages  would  be 
extracted  from  it  by  half  the  country  newspapers,  and  I  should 
have  the  satisfaction  of  boasting  my  friendship  with  the  ingenious 
author,  not  only  in  drawing-rooms,  but  at  turnpike-meetings,  (absit 
verho  invidia.) 

"  I  have  dwelt  so  long  on  the  former  part  of  my  text,  that  I 
have  little  room  for  my  latter.     I  am  now  come  home  for  a  few 

days  to  attend  a  committee  for  the  relief  of  the  poor.  *  * 

*  "        *  *  * 

"  Ever  your  affectionate  friend, 

"  Reginald  Heber." 

!Z'o  E.  D.  Davenjiort,  Esq. 

Hodnet  Rectory,  Nov.  'U,  1816. 
"  My  Dear  Davenport, 

"  I  fear  the  Wilmots  and  Hortons  do  not  mean  to 
take  us  in  their  way  from  Cheshire,  as  the  former  talk  of  pressing 
back  to  meet  their  boys.  But  though  I  am  compelled  to  acqui- 
esce in  this  excuse,  yet,  as  I  do  not  believe  that  you  expect  any 


"  CIIILDE  HAROLD."  447 

similar  pledges  of  affection  these  Christmas  holidays,  I  trust  we  are  ^'^:)y- 
not  to  give  up  the  hope  of  seeing  you  here  as  soon  as  you  can  after  """• 
the  second  of  December ;  the  earlier  the  better. 

"  I  have  been  a  little  alarmed  on  receiving  a  parcel  from  Mr. 
Crawford  of  six  quarto  volumes  of  manuscript,  each  of  them,  '  so 
dick  ah  dis  sheese,'  being  the  travels  of  Mr.  Kinneir '  through  Asia 
Minor,  respecting  the  merits  of  which  I  am  to  give  an  opinion,  ac- 
cording to  a  rash  promise  which  I  made  when  I  was  with  you.  I 
was  not  then  quite  aware  of  the  bulk  of  the  undertaking,  but  must 
now  persevere,  though  the  journey  may  be  as  protracted  as  that 
of  the  ten  thousand  Greeks  through  the  same  route. 

"  How  do  you  hke  the  new  '  Childe  Harold  ?'  I  think  the 
beginning  tolerable ;  the  end  very  fine  indeed ;  the  middle  '  party 
per  pale^  (to  use  the  heraldic  term,)  very  good  and  very  prosaic 
and  inharmonious.  Bringing  the  mountains  to  bed  of  a  young 
earthquake  has  been  apparently  suggested  by  the  divine  author  of 
'  The  Death  of  Hellebore  ^'  I  am  not  sure  that  a  mouse  would 
not  have  been  the  more  eligible  son  and  heir  of  the  two.  The 
prisoner  of  Chillon  is  not  yet  arrived.  I  hear  a  very  high  charac- 
ter of  a  novel  not  yet  published,  but  soon  to  be ;  '  The  Tales  of 
my  Landlord,  by  Jedediah  Cleishbotham.'  The  author  I  do  not 
know." 

To  Mrs.  R.  Heber. 

Nov.  1816. 

"  I  had  a  letter  yesterday  from  Hodson ',  enquiring  whether  I 
had  any  objection  to  become  one  of  the  university  preachers,  and 
conveying  a  very  civil  message  from  Dr.  Van  Mildert,  offering  to 
nominate  me,  which  he,  as  Regius  Professor,  is  empowered  to  do. 

'  Sir  John  Kinneir  Macdonald,  now,  1830,  British  minister  in  Persia. — Ed. 

'  A  mock  heroic  poem,  written  by  an  acquaintance  of  Mr.  Reginald  Heber's,  to  prove 
that  perfect  nonsense,  when  clotlied  in  high-sounding  language,  and  read  with  proper  emphasis, 
may  often  be  admired  as  eloquent  poetry  by  superficial  hearers. — Ed. 

'  The  late  Rev.  Frodsham  Hodson,  D.D.  Principal  of  Brazen  Nose  College. — Ed. 


448  APPOINTMENT  AS  UNIVERSITY  PREACHER. 


CHAP.    This  offer  gives  me  pleasure  as  a  mark  of  my  Oxford  friends,  espe- 

1816!      cially  Dr.  Van  Mildert,  having  approved  my  sermons  ;  and  it  may, 

as  a  further  opportunity  of  distinguishing  myself,  be  advantageous. 

*  *  *  *  brings  dreadful  reports  of  the 

harvest  in  Cambridgeshire  and  the  neighbouring  counties.  As  he 
went  to  Cambridge,  he  saw  men  reaping  wheat  knee  deep  in 
water ;  and  the  oats,  which  are  a  very  principal  crop  with  them, 
are  almost  all  spoilt ;  a  great  deal  of  corn,  I  am  assured,  is  still 

standing  in  the  neighbourhood  of  Leek.     forebodes  famine, 

and  from  the  badness  of  the  corn,  perhaps,  pestilence.  I  know 
no  better  comfort  than  the  Mohamedan  '  Ullah  kerim  ! '  But, 
in  reality,  I  am  not  disposed  to  join  in  his  forebodings.  The  dearth 
of  corn  may,  possibly,  serve  as  a  stimulus  to  our  manufactories. 
America  and  Poland  will  take  back  cotton  and  hard-ware  in 
exchange  for  wheat ;  and  if  the  affliction  is  not  by  these  means 
taken  away,  it  may  be  much  lightened." 

During  the  short  absence  from  home  in  which  the  preceding 
letter  was  written,  Mr.  Reginald  Heber  commenced,  and  subse- 
quently completed  a  "  masque,"  taken  from  Chaucer's  "  Wife  of 
Bath's  tale."  The  plot  turns  upon  the  solution  of  the  same  riddle  ; 
but  in  the  introduction  of  Titania  and  her  fairies,  of  Merlin,  and  of 
the  personages  of  Arthur's  court,  it  diifers  from  the  original  story. 
This  was  not  the  only  dramatic  poem  he  wrote  ;  at  different  times 
he  versified  the  oriental  stories  of  II  Bondocani  and  Bluebeard ; 
and  there  are  many  to  whom  the  recollection  of  the  kindness  and 
promptitude  with  which  he  lent  his  talents  to  heighten  the  enjo}'- 
ment  of  a  merry  Christmas  party,  will  recur  with  a  melancholy 
interest.  From  the  "  masque  of  Gwendolen,"  alone,  however,  will 
some  extracts  now  be  given. 


FRAGMENTS  OF  THE  MASQUE  OF  GWENDOLEN.  449 

CHAP. 

XIV 

FRAGMENTS  OF  THE  MASQUE  OF  GWENDOLEN.  '"'"• 


f Enter  two  Goblins  bearing  a  casket. J 

Gwendolen,     AVhat  forms  are  these  .' 

Goblin.  Spirits  of  nether  earth 

Are  we,  and  servants  to  the  mighty  Merlin, 

From  whom  we  beai-  these  treasures  to  his  bride. 

Or  ere  the  raven  twice  hath  flapt  her  wing 

He  will  himself  be  here. 
Gwendolen.  Good  angels  guard  me  ! 

Enter  two  Sylphs  and  two  Sea  Nymphs. 

Song. 
Nymphs  of  air  and  ancient  sea, 
Bridal  gifts  we  bring  to  thee  ! 
Lo  these  plumes  of  rich  device, 
Pluck'd  from  birds  of  paradise  ! 
Lo  these  drops  of  essence  rare, 
Shook  from  a  wand'ring  meteor's  hair  ! 
Nymphs  of  air  and  ancient  sea. 
Such  tlie  gifts  we  bring  to  thee  ! 

Take  these  shells,  approach  them  neai-, 
And  thej'  shall  mimnur  in  thine  ear 
Tunes  that  lull  the  slumbering  sea 
More  than  mermaid's  hai-mony  ! 
Take  these  pearls,  no  diving-slave 
Drags  their  like  from  ocean  cave, — 
Nymphs  of  air  and  ancient  sea. 
Such  can  only  bring  to  thee. 

Enter  two  Genii  of  Fire,  with  a  Vase. 
1  Genius.         Loveliest  of  mortal  mould  !  distant  we  kneel. 
Lest  our  hot  breath  should  mar  thy  snowy  skin. 
Or  scorch  thy  raven  locks  !     We  are  of  ftre 
The  swarthy  ministers,  whose  active  heat 
Is  as  the  soul  of  earth  and  sea  and  air ; 
Who  sow  the  seeds  of  gold,  who  give  the  diamond 
Its  eye  of  flame,  and  wake  the  carbimcle 
To  rival  day.     Of  such  strange  alchemy 
VOL.  I.  3    M 


1.30  FRAGMENTS  OF  THE  MASQUE  OF  GWENDOLEN. 

CHAP.  We  bring  thee  tokens;  and  before  thy  feet 

^g'j^'  Bow  down  our  crisped  heads,  and  in  the  dust 

=====  Abase  our  teiTours  ! 


***** 

*  «  *  *  « 

Merlin.  Am  I  proud,  who  lay 

Mine  empire  at  thy  feet .'     All  thou  hast  seen 

Are  but  the  least  of  wonders.     Toiling  fiends 

Shall  sweat  to  work  tliy  bidding,  and  their  claws 

Rend  from  the  greedy  earth  its  bmied  treasiu-e. 

And  drag  the  deeji  for  thee.     The  sylphs  of  air 

Shall  fan  thy  slumber,  and  their  viewless  harps 

Pour  on  thy  waking  ear  strange  melody. 

The  elfin  nations,  with  fi'esh  herbs  and  flowers. 

Shall  in  thy  chambers  keep  perennial  sjjring ; 

And  the  wild  mermaid  sleek,  with  coral  comb, 

Thy  dark  and  peifum'd  tresses.     Seek'st  thou  more  ? 

More  is  in  Merlin's  power !     Be  thou  my  bride. 

And  I  will  place  thee  on  a  regal  throne 

Of  solid  adamant,  hill  above  hill, 

Ten  fm-longs  high,  to  match  whose  altitude 

Plinlimmon  fails,  and  Idris'  stony  chair 

Sinks  like  an  mfant's  bauble ;  there,  enshrin'd 

A  queen  and  goddess,  shall  the  elements 

Wait  on  thee,  and  the  countless  multitude 

Of  Genii  worship  thee  supreme  in  hell ! 

I  pause  for  thy  reply. 

Gwendolen.  Tliis  then  it  is  : 

Thy  power  I  know  not,  but  thine  art  I  know 
For  most  unholy,  and  thy  person  hateful ! 
I  own  my  folly,  with  remorse  I  own  it. 
Which  play'd  with  such  a  visitor ;  but  mine  ears 
Drank  in  thy  wisdom, — and  it  soothed  my  pride 
To  see  the  powers  of  magic  tax'd  for  me. 
And  the  strong  features  of  a  face  like  thine 
Relaxing  in  my  presence  !     This  forgive  me  ! 
My  last  request !     Nay  look  not  thus  on  me, 
Nor  press  my  hand  !     I  may  not  dally  longer. 

*  *  *  *  * 
***** 

Merlin.  Ah,  do  not  raise  the  fiend  within  my  soul, 

Nor  arm,  sweet  petulance,  against  thyself 
My  worser  nature  !     In  this  rugged  breast 


FRAGMENTS  OF  THE  MASQUE  OF  GWENDOLEN.  451 

The  heart  which  throbs  is  Etna's  earthy  fire,  CHAP. 

Which,  unprovok'd  and  slumbering  in  its  strength,  J^jg^ 


Rejoiceth  Ceres,  and  with  fi-esher  flowers 

To  Enna's  vaUey  Im-es  back  Proserijine  : 

But,  if  it  burst  its  bounds,  hath  hellish  mettle 

Which  is  most  dangerous  !     I  was  not  made 

To  soothe  a  lady's  scom,  or  woo  her  lattice, 

Wliat  time  the  cold  moon  on  her  garden  bower 

Flickers  in  silver  whiteness,  and  the  winds 

Blend  with  mine  amorous  harp's  sad  lullaby. 

My  love  or  vengeance  mvist  be  gratified. — 

'Wherefore,  proud  dame,  I  say  to  thee.  Be  wise  ! 

In  love  unmatch'd,  in  hate  unmatchable, 

I  have  done  that  ere  now  which  mine  own  eyes 

Have  wept  to  look  upon.     My  Father's  spirit 

Is  blent  with  mine,  and  schools  me  to  such  horrours  ! 

Wherefore,  I  charge  thee,  as  thou  lov'st  thyself, 

Be  timely  wise  !     One  little  moment  more, 

I  feel  the  demon  rush  into  my  soul, 

And  prayer  will  then  be  vain  !     Be  wise  !     Be  wise  ! 

Gwendolen.     Oh  horrour,  horroiu- !     Oh  for  leprosy 

To  scathe  this  fatal  form  !     Oh  that  the  veil 

Wlierewith  I  shroud  me  from  thy  dreaded  glance, 

Were  some  wild  thicket,  some  brake-tangled  wood 

Where  this  poor  head  might  shelter, — where  no  foot 

Of  man  ajjproacheth  :  that  myself  were  made 

A  thing  of  loathing  and  of  natural  horror, 

Such  as  is  pain  to  look  on  ! — better  so 

Than  thus  to  tempt  thy  wooing :  take  me,  throw  me 

To  the  wild  boar,  or  where  the  lioness 

Seeks  for  her  brindled  young  their  human  banquet ; 

Yea,  rather  marry  me  to  death,  and  make 

My  bridal  bed  within  the  sepulchre, 

Than  bid  me  mount  with  thee  thy  guilty  throne  ! 

Merlin.  Thy  wish  be  on  thine  head,  and  thine  own  curse 

Feed  on  thee  till  it  waste  thee  !     Exquisite  maid  ! 
Ev'n  in  the  bitterness  of  my  revenge 
I  love  thy  graceful  passion  !     But  my  sire, 
Whose  flames  now  bm-n  within  me,  goads  my  piu'pose 
To  wittier  malice  !     Shroud  thee  in  thy  veil, 
Oh  my  fair  enemy ; — for  that  withdravsTi 
Thy  face  shall  never  win  a  suitor  more  ! 
3  M  2 


452  FRAGMENTS  OF  THE  MASQUE  OF  GWENDOLEN. 

CHAP.  Hear  Spirits  hear !—  (Thunder.J 

^}X-  I  fix  on  thee 

=====  Curses,  ciu'ses,  one,  two,  three  ! 

Fouler  than  a  grandarae  ape, 
Be  thy  features  and  thy  shape ; 
Be  thy  face,  so  fresh  and  fair, 
Worse  than  those  of  furies  are  ; 
Be  thy  snowy  forehead  dark. 
And  rougher  than  the  maple  bark  ; 
In  the  green  wood  range  alone 
Thy  disastrous  lot  to  moan  ; 
Lion  wild  and  bristly  boar. 
Let  them  fly  thy  face  before  ; 
And  the  wolves  that  round  thee  prowl, 
More  from  fear  than  hunger  howl ; 
As  a  thing  most  scom'd  and  hated, 
And  mth  demons  only  mated, 
Every  kindly  creatm-e  shim  thee  : 
And  this  bru-den  be  upon  thee, 
Till  a  youth  of  form  divine, 
Sjjnmg  from  Brutus'  ancient  line, 
Of  beauty  careless,  and  deUght, 
Shall  woo  thee  to  the  nuptial  rite  ; 
Shall  his  arms  aromid  thee  twine, 
Shall  his  warm  lips  press  to  thine. 
And  sign  thee  with  the  holy  sign  ! 

(Tlmnder.     Merlin  sinks. J 
***** 


(Gwendolen  asleep  as  transformed  by  Merlin.     Tliree 
fairies  strewing  flotoers  and  leaves  over  her.) 

Song. 
Rest  thee  on  this  mossy  pillow 

'Till  the  morning  light ! 
Softly  wave  this  whispering  willow 

O'er  thy  bed  to  night ! 
Every  mortal  giief  forsake  thee 
As  our  drowsy  spells  o'ertake  thee, 
Nought  from  blessed  sleep  awake  thee 

'Till  the  morning  light ! 


FRAGMENTS  OF  THE  MASQUE  OF  GWENDOLEN. 


453 


Titania. 


\.st  Fairy. 


Titania. 
1st.  Fairy. 


Titania. 


1st.  Fairy. 
Titania. 


Enter  Titania. 
Spirits,  well  done  !  for  not  of  ruthless  mood 
Are  we,  the  rangers  of  the  nightly  wood. 
'Where  found  ye  this  sad  maid  ? 

Down  in  yon  dell 
We  foimd  her,  where  the  moon-beams  brightest  fell ; 
For  Cynthia  mark'd  her  with  benignant  eye, 
And  mom-n'd,  methonght,  a  virgin's  misery. 
We  mark'd  her  too,  with  what  intense  despair 
She  scatter'd  on  the  winds  her  raven  hair. 
Invoking  death  :  then  with  accurst  intent 
Of  wilder  madness,  to  the  lake  she  went ; 
But,  bending  o'er  its  mirror,  shriek'd  to  spy 
In  tliat  wild  glass  her  own  defonnity. 
And  fled  apace.     Anon,  amid  the  brakes. 
Like  some  pursued  fawn  a  lair  she  makes. 
And  shrowding  with  her  furry  gown  those  eyes 
Wliich  not  the  curse  of  Merlin  coidd  disguise, 
As  at  herself  she  trembled,  'till  her  grief 
Found  in  a  flood  of  gracious  tears  relief. 
Poor  wretch  !   ye  sooth'd  her  then  .i" 

Her  tears  we  cbied. 
And  pluck'd  the  brambles  from  her  bleeding  side ; 
O'er  her  hot  brain  a  gratefiil  vapour  threw, 
And  sprinkled  every  limb  with  drowsy  dew ; 
Then  bore  her  slumb'ring  to  this  green  retreat, 
And  with  star-jelly  cool'd  her  blister'd  feet. 
And  scatter'd  every  flower  of  purple  die, 
And  fann'd  her  rest  with  owlet's  plumery. 
Well  have  ye  done  !     Sleep  on,  poor  Gwendolen, 
The  hour  of  retribution  is  arriv'd. 
And  Merlin  hath  no  longer  power  to  harm. — 
Is  Merlin  dead  ? 

Ev'n  now  I  heard  the  yell 
Of  ghastly  merriment ;  in  upper  air 
The  fiends  keep  holyday.     I  knew  their  song, 
A  song  of  triumph  :  "  Merlin  is  no  more ! 
Merlin,  the  mighty  one  !     Haste,  haste  to  meet  him 
Ye  rulers  of  the  damn'd,  and  open  wide 
Yom-  everlasting  gates,  to  entertain 
The  master  of  the  spell !     Such  charms  no  more 
Shall  tax  our  laboiurs  till  the  final  doom !" 


CHAP. 
XIV. 
1816. 


454 


FRAGMENTS  OF  THE  MASQUE  OF  GWENDOLEN. 


CHAP. 
XIV. 

181G. 


1st.  Fairy.       How  died  he }  Say — 

Tiiania.  By  female  wiles  he  fell. 

She  of  the  Lake,  his  elfin  paramour, 

Jealous  of  his  late  wanderings, — in  a  tomb, 

(First  having  won  by  sugar'd  blandishment 

From  his  dark  soul  th'  unutterable  name 

Wliich  all  things  fear  in  hell,  in  earth  and  heaven,) 

Enclos'd  the  struggling  wizard.     Nine  long  nights 

Within  the  rock  the  fairies  heard  him  moan, 

The  tenth  was  silence ! 
Isf  Fairy.  May  the  merciless 

Such  fate  meet  ever !     But,  our  Gwendolen, 

Is  she  now  free  ? 
Titania.  The  fates  their  course  must  have, 

And  Merlin's  spells  have  power  beyond  the  grave. 

But  Heaven,  and  those  bright  stars  whose  golden  eyes 

Behold  the  link  of  mortal  destinies, 

An  equal  lot  of  weal  and  woe  prepare 

To  Harleck's  virgin  and  to  Albion's  heir. 

For  this  I  came,  to  shed  a  soft  controul 

Of  heavenly  wisdom  o'er  her  sleeping  soul ; 

And  bring  to  mind  whate'er  of  secret  lore 

She  from  her  wizard  lover  learnt  before. 

But  soft,  she  stirs, — our  potent  pharmacy 

Has  rous'd  her  dream,  and  oped  her  sealed  eye. 

Vanish,  kind  fays — our  forms  she  must  not  spy  ! 

(Gwendolen  awakes. J 
Gwendolen.     Oh  sacred  hour  of  retribution, 

Foredoom'd  to  dry  the  wretch's  tear. 

And  rectify  this  dark  confusion, 

Of  earthly  sin  and  shame  and  fear ; 

And  art  thou  then  a  fond  delusion 

Ai-oimd  oiu-  slumber  hovering  near. 

Of  Heavenly  bUss  a  blest  infusion 

Too  holy  to  be  tasted  here  } 

Oh,  in  my  dreams  I  feel  them,  see  them ! 

The  days  of  bliss  retm-n  again, 

As  victor  angels  tread  beneath  them, 

Tlie  snare  of  fiends,  the  rage  of  men  ! 

And  evermore  a  sweet  delusion 

Above  my  slumber  hovers  near ; 

And  tells  of  holy  retiibution. 

And  chides  my  doubt  and  soothes  my  fear ; 


FRAGMENTS  OF  THE  MASQUE  OF  GWENDOLEN.  455 

1  wake — and  all  is  dark  and  drear.  CH.4P. 

The  oak  wood  rustles  over  head  ;  1816. 

The  aspen  sheds  its  foHage  sere  === 

Upon  my  wild  and  dewy  bed ; 
Before  the  melancholy  blast 
Autumnal  clouds  are  diiving  fast ; 
For  canopy  of  state  I  see 
The  white  moon  glimmering  thro'  the  tree  ; 
I  tremble  as  with  woman  feai- 
The  wolf's  approaching  howl  I  hear ; 
In  sickening  doubt  I  turn  mine  eyes 
From  mine  own  self  thus  hideous  grown ; 
And,  ranging,  in  this  goblin  guise. 
The  thorny  brake,  unseen,  unknown, 
I  curse  my  sleep,  whose  magic  power 
Hath  mocked  witli  bliss  my  hopeless  heart, 
And  trebly  ciurse  my  waking  hour, 
Wliich  bade  that  fancied  bUss  depart ; 
And  doubt,  so  quick  the  changes  seem. 
If  this  or  that  were  all  a  dieam. 
Alas  !  how  know  we  which  is  true, 
The  night  or  day,  the  sun  or  shade, 
The  forms  which  glide  in  long  review 
Before  our  eyes  in  slumber  laid, 
Or  those  our  waking  scenes  renew  ? 
Was  it  a  dream  that  Harleck's  hall 
Received  my  wandering  steps  again. 
As  throbb'd  my  heart  at  rapture's  call, 
More  rapt'rous  from  remember'd  pain  ? 
On  my  cold  cheek  in  joyftil  thrill, 
My  brotlier's  tear,  I  feel  it  still ; 
And,  closer  to  my  heart  than  he, 
Tlie  youth's  warm  kiss  who  set  me  free  ! 
Was  this  a  dream  ?  or,  dieam  I  now 
Of  mourning  weeds  and  desert  wild ; 
Of  whistling  wind  in  hawthorn  bough ; 
Of  form  by  magic  curse  defil'd  ^ 
Come  pitying  death,  dissolve  the  strife, 
— And  wake  me  from  the  trance  of  life  ! 
A  footstep  in  the  wood !  an  armed  man, 
And  hither  bomid  !     Retire  thee,  Gwendolen. 
Yet,  what  hast  thou  to  fear  ?     Thine  altered  foi-m 
Is  safe  from  the  worst  danger,  and  thy  life, 
7 


45fi  FRAGMENTS  OF  THE  MASQUE  OF  GWENDOLEN. 

CHAP.  Not  worth  the  keepmg,  mocks  his  craelty. — 

^Jj^-  Yet  must  I  hide  me— lend  me  your  shade  kind  boughs, 

-  To  shade  this  hideous  face  from  earth  and  Heaven ! 

***** 
***** 

Scene,  the  Court. — Arthur  on  his  throne,  Llewellin  in  chains.  Guards,  Sfc.  Sfc. 

Arthur.    '        How  wears  the  time  ? 

Kay.  The  sun  hath  well  nigh  scaled 

The  pinnacle  of  Heaven. 
Arthur.  Oh  say  not  so  : — 

Is  it  indeed  so  late  ? — Wliere  art  thou  Gawain, 
Too  slow  to  save  thy  friend  ?     Ah,  ciursed  oath  ! 
Which  stojjs  the  mouth  of  mercy,  and  but  leaves 
A  baiTen  giief  to  after  penitence — 
That  I  might  now  recall  thee  !     Yet  again 
Be  it  proclaimed, — if  that  mortal  tongue 
Can  solve  our  oracle, — and  solving  save 
Yon  gallant  gentleman, — our  kingdom's  power 
Is  taxed  for  their  reward.     Still,  still, — all  still ! 
Oh  good  Llewellin,  when  the  headsman's  blow 
Redeems  mine  oath,  my  hoaiy  hairs  shall  follow 
(Believe  it)  to  the  grave.     Oh,  that  thy  wrath 
Had  cool'd  betimes,  or  mine.     Pardon,  oh  pardon  ! 
As  I  forgive  thee  thine  miruly  brow 
Triumphant  o'er  mine  age,  thy  words  of  fire 
And  looks  of  mutiny,  such  as  no  king 
Can  brook  without  resistance, — pardon  thou 
The  rashness  of  mine  oath,  which  sends  thy  youth 
Untimely  to  the  tomb. 
Llewellin.  My  parting  prayer 

Waits  on  your  silver  locks ;  be  brief  good  king; 
Dismiss  a  soul  which  on  its  tiptoe  stands 
Knocking  at  Heaven's  high  gates.     I  have  met  death 
In  uglier  shapes  before,  nor  find  I  now, 
Save  in  this  tardiness,  his  teetli  or  sting. 
Have  with  you,  headsman. 
Arthur.  Stay,  I  charge  ye  stay  ! — 

A  noise — I  hear  it  well, — a  horse's  tread 
As  one  in  speed — and  hark  that  shout,  oh  Heaven. 
Run  some  of  ye  and  learn. 
fCry  without.  J  Long  live  Earl  Gawain ! 

***** 


FRAGMENTS  OF  THE  MASQUE  OF  GWENDOLEN. 


457 


Arthur.  Welcome  brave  nejihew, 

Now  more  than  ever  welcome  ;  have  ye  sped  ? 
Is  mine  oath  cancelled  ? — is  the  j)risoner  free  ? 
Hath  Merlin  told  his  secret  ? 

Gawain.  He  hath  borne 

That  secret  to  the  land  of  secresy, 
Nor  can  Llewellin  claim  a  further  sentence 
Tlian  Heav'n  hath  past  on  Merlin.     Oh  my  liege, 
Strange  things  have  chanced,  which  at  fitting  season 
I  shall  imfold.     Now  to  my  chiefest  care. 
Unlock  these  rivets  jailor,  for  thy  charge 
By  Arthur's  oath  is  free ; — Arthur  hath  sought 
What  women  mostly  crave ; — my  answer  foUows. 
Power  is  their  passion.     From  the  lordly  -dame 
To  the  brown  maid  that  tends  the  har\-est  field, 
They  prize  it  most.     'WTierefore  is  pleasure  scom'd 
But  to  increase  their  sway  ? — why  riches  lavished. 
But  as  an  argvunent  of  queenly  state  ? 
WTierefore  is  virtue  scom'd  ?    why  vice  thought  comely  .-' 
But  for  the  pride  of  taming  him  whose  wiles 
Have  ruined  many, — why  is  beauty  marr'd 
By  ceruse  or  by  corset  ? — wherefore  love 
Led  Hke  a  blithe  and  perfum'd  sacrifice 
To  Phoebus'  altar,  but  in  hope  to  reign  ? — 
Ye  have  mine  answer. — 

Arthur.  Loose  Llewellin's  chain  ! 

Gawain  thou  hast  thine  earldom.     Valiant  friends 

This  day  be  peace  to  all.     Let  me  embrace  you 

With  penitent  fondness.     Ah  !  what  ghastly  spectre 

Troubles  oiu-  happiness  ? — Can  this  be  human  ! 

She  kneels,  she  holds  a  ring — 

A  boon, a  boon 

From  Arthur  and  from  Gawain  !   "Wliat  I  am, 

"What  I  have  done,  he  knows. — What  he  hath  sworn 

This  ring  be  witness. 

I  acknowledge  all. 

And  nobly  will  repay  thee.     Come  to-morrow, — 

To-day, — this  even, — only  scare  not  now 

This  royal  presence. 
***** 

I  saved  thy  friend, 
I  brought  thine  earldom  back  ;  my  wisdom  soimded 
The  craft  of  Merlin  ;  and  the  grateful  Gawain 
(For  he  was  grateful  then,)  sware  by  his  sword, 

VOL.  I.  3   N 


CHAP. 
XIV. 
1816. 


Gwendolen. 


Gawain. 


Gwendolen. 


458 


FRAGMENTS  OF  THE  MASQUE  OF  GWENDOLEN. 


CHAP. 
XIV. 
181S. 


Gawain. 


Gwendolen. 


Gawain. 


Gwendolen. 


Gawain. 


This  ring  his  sponsor, — to  rewai-d  my  pains 
With  whatsoe'er  I  ask'd.     I  ask  it  now, 
Before  the  king — my  liire,  my  righteous  hire. 
Such  as  a  knight  must  j^ay. 

Ask  and  receive ! 
I  own  my  oath, — and  though  my  colder  blood 
Thrills  to  its  fountain  at  thy  gaze,  and  nature 
Forebodes  of  something  monstrous  in  thy  soul, 
Which  I  may  shrink  to  answer — I  have  sworn ; 
And  bid  me  tame  the  brindled  pard,  or  keep 
Mine  unann'd  vigil  in  a  dragon's  den, — 
Be  the  king  witness,  and  this  table  round, 
I  will  perform  thy  bidding ;  speak  and  obtain. 
Give  me  thyself, — be  thou  mine  husband,  Gawain  ! 
What !  scared  already, — hast  thou  sworn  in  vain  ? 
Am  I  so  monstrous } — Oh,  I  feel  I  am  ! 
Yet  have  I  sav'd  thy  friend. 


« 


* 


So  are  we  maivied.     Ride  thou  in  my  house. 
Govern  my  treasiu-e, — prank  thee  in  my  jewels ; 
All,  all  is  thine  ! — for  me,  I  mount  my  steed 
And  ramble  forth  to-night,  an  errant  wanior. 
To  see  thy  face  no  more. — 

Alas  for  me  ! 
Is  this  a  maiTiage  .'' — thus  did  Gawain  swear. 
To  mock  me  with  himself, — to  leave  me  thus, 
His  lawful  partner,  to  the  scoffs  of  men, 
And  the  constructions  of  a  peevish  world. 
Weak  and  defenceless,  childless,  husbandless .' 
Oh,  my  good  lord, — shall  it  be  said  tliis  face 
Has  robb'd  my  country  of  its  bravest  knight  ? 
And  shall  the  Saxon,  and  the  ruthless  Dane, 
Triumphant  in  your  absence,  thank  the  foidness 
Of  Gawain's  coimtess  for  their  victory  ! 
Far  be  such  cinrse  from  me  !     If  I  am  loath'd. 
Beyond  endurance  loath'd, — command  me  hence, 
And  I  forsake  your  roof; — I  know  my  duty  ; 
And  your  poor  wife,  from  forth  her  wilderness. 
Shall  bless  and  pray  for  Gawain. 

Nay,  not  so ; 
For  I  have  sworn  to  shield  thee  ;  rest  thee  here. 
And  ev'n  in  absence  shall  mine  eye  behold 
Thy  comforts  and  thy  safety ;  weep  not,  dame. 


LETTER  TO  R.  H.  INGLIS,  ESQ.  459 

I  am  thy  guardian,  and  will  well  discharge  CHAP. 

A  guardian's  office.     Friendship  may  be  ours,  igxg] 


Thy  form  forbids  not  that.     ^Vhat — weej)ing  still ! 
I  will  not  leave  thee ; — with  a  brother's  zeal 
For  thy  past  service  done  I  will  watch  over  thee : 
Be  of  good  courage, — come,  one  kiss  of  peace 

To  seal  om*  bargain. Hateful !  honible  ! 

And  dost  thou  cling  around  me,  cursed  fiend, 
To  drag  me  to  perdition  !     Out,  aroint ! 
For  in  God's  name  I  charge  thee  set  me  free, 
And  by  this  holy  sign ! 
Gwendolen.  ^         Oh,  blessed  be  thou ! — 

Tmii,  Gawain,  turn  ! — 

(Loud  thunder. J" 
*  *  «  # 


To  R.  H.  Inglis,  Esq. 

Hodnet  Rectory,  Dec.  2, 1816. 
"  My  Dear  Inglis, 

"  I  did  not  intend  to  have  written  till  I  had 
finished  the  correction  of  my  lectures  :  but  you  have  afforded  nie 
so  substantial  a  proof  of  your  kindness  in  the  attention  which  you 
have  bestowed  on  my  writings,  that  I  am  unwilhng  any  longer  to 
defer  thanking  you.  Some  of  your  suggestions  I  must  take  credit 
to  myself  for  having  already  adopted,  and  I  w^ll  sincerely  engage 
to  reject  none  without  a  careful  examination.  If  you  were  to  see 
the  margin  of  my  corrected  copy,  you  would  acquit  me  of  any 
idleness  in  the  task  of  revision ;  at  the  same  time  I  must  own 
that  my  attention  has  as  yet  been  paid  to  the  collecting  fresh 
authorities,  and  arranging  my  arguments  in  a  more  lucid  order, 
rather  than  to  questions  of  style.  Your  criticism  may,  therefore, 
be  of  real  and  great  advantage  to  me.  My  wife  joins  in  kindest 
regards  to  Mrs.  Inglis  with 

"  Dear  Inglis, 

"  Ever  yours  truly, 

"  Reginald  Heber." 
3  N  2 


460  BOWDLER'S  "  SELECT  PIECES  IN  PROSE  AND  VERSE." 


CHAP. 
XIV. 
1817. 


To  R.  H.  IngUs,  Esq. 

Hodnet  Rectory,  Jan.  13,  1817. 

"  My  Dear  Inglis, 

"  I  am  sensible  that  I  may  seem  to  have  delayed  too 
long  the  acknowledgements  which  your  very  friendly  and  valuable 
present  claimed  fi-om  me,  and,  if  I  had  had  any  reason  to  apprehend 
that  my  sincerity  would  have  been  taxed  in  speaking  as  highly  as 
I  could  have  wished  of  the  remains  of  yoiu*  excellent  friend,  I 
would  not  have  deferred  writing  my  thanks  till  I  had  received  and 
read  the  volumes  '.  I  can  now  say,  with  great  truth,  that  I  am 
highly  sensible  of  the  kind  manner  in  which  you  have  distinguished 
one  who  enjoyed,  unfortunately,  so  small  a  share  of  Mr.  Bowdler's 
acquaintance,  and  can  assure  you  that  you  were  not  mistaken  in 
supposing  that  I  should  regard  his  'remains'  with  very  deep  feel- 
ings of  respect  and  regret.  I  expected  much  from  all  wliich  I  had 
heard  of  him  during  his  life,  and  my  expectations  have  not  been 
disappointed  by  the  volumes  which  you  have  sent  me.  It  is  very 
unusual  to  find  so  much  playfulness  of  fancy  united  to  so  many 
traces  of  severe  application,  or  to  find  both  these  brought  to  bear 
at  once  on  so  many  different  branches  of  knowledge ;  and  I  own 
my  respect  is  much  increased  by  the  consideration,  that  these 
essays,  which  might  many  of  them  seem  to  have  required  a  man's 
best  exertions  and  undivided  attention,  were,  in  his  case,  nothing 
more  than  the  relaxations  of  a  mind  daily  pressed  on  by  other 
cares,  and  fighting  its  way  through  the  gloom  of  sickness  and  the 
hinch'ances  of  a  most  laborious  profession. 

"  I  have  said  thus  much  of  the  talents  which  the  work 
you  have  sent  appears  to  me  to  display ;  of  the  exalted  feelings  of 
virtue  and  piety  which  it  every  where  expresses,  nothing  need  be 
said,  as  its  author  is  already  gone  to  receive  the  only  approbation 
which  he  had  in  view.     I  often,  during  his  life,  have  regretted  that, 

'  "  Select  pieces  in  prose  and  verse,"  by  the  late  John  Bowdler,  Esq. 


THE  DISTRESSES  OF  THE  COUNTRY.  461 

though  I  knew  so  many  of  his  friends,  and  was  well  acquainted  f^^'^P 
with  his  character,  I  had  very  slight  opportunities  of  being  made  '"^7- 
known  to  him,  and  none  of  cultivating  his  acquaintance.  That 
regret  would  be  now  much  increased  if  I  did  not  ventvu'e  to  look 
forward,  not  only  to  the  continuance  in  another  world  of  the  fi-iend- 
ships  begun  here,  but  to  the  obtaining  and  enjoying  the  society  of 
many  excellent  persons,  whom  I  have  here  chiefly  or  only  known 
by  the  reputation  which  they  have  enjoyed,  or  the  works  which 
they  have  left  behind  them.  I  do  not  know  that  the  mutual  recog- 
nition of  happy  spirits  is  actually  revealed,  though  I  think  it  is 
implied  in  many  parts  of  Scripture.  But  I  am  sure  that  the  pro- 
babilities of  the  case  are  all  in  favour  of  the  supposition  ;  nor  can  I 
conceive  that,  while  the  animal  part  of  our  natm-e  is  not  to  be 
destroyed,  but  raised  and  glorified,  the  best  and  purest  parts  of  our 
natural  aifection,  and  those  which  seem  most  suited  to  Heaven,  are 
to  expire  to  revive  no  more,  or  to  become  useless  in  a  future  state. 
Let  us  be  willing  to  hope  that  it  may  be  more  than  a  mere  expres- 
sion, when  I  sign  myself, 

"  Dear  Inglis, 

"  Eve7'  your  sincere  friend, 

"  Reginald  Hebek." 

To  R.  J.  Wilmot,  Esq. 

Hodnet  Rectory,  June  17,  1817. 

*  *  *  * 

"  I  certainly  think  that,  able  and  witty  as 's  statements 

of  our  prospects  are,  he  is  not  sufficiently  sensible  to  the  dangers 
of  the  country.  He  says,  and  probably  with  truth,  that  a  few  fresh 
orders  from  Germany,  and  a  little  advance  in  the  value  of  agricul- 
tural produce,  would  reconcile  all  parties  to  the  constitution  and 
the  powers  that  be.  But  I  wish  he  were  able  to  prophesy  that 
such  mercantile  orders  are  really  likely  to  arrive,  or  that  tlie  prices 
wliich  the  farmer  may  expect  when  exposed  to  the  competition  of 
foreign  corn-growers,  will  be  such  as  to  counterbalance  his  neces- 


4(5o  THE  DISTRESSES  OF  THE  COUNTRY. 


CHAP,    sary  loss  in  the  quantity  and  quality  of  his  harvest.    In  one  respect 
1817.      it  is,  indeed,  possible  that  the  failure  of  our  crops  may  be  of  real 
advantage  to  the  trade  of  the  country,  (which  is,  doubtless,  our 
weakest  side,  and  the  quarter  most  susceptible  of  injurious  impres- 
sions from  the  enemies  of  order,)  by  supplying  the  Americans  vidth 
the  means  of  purchasing  om'  manufactures  by  the  exportation  of 
their  corn.     But,  vmless  our  corn-bill  is  repealed,  this  relief  must, 
of  course,  be  temporary;  and  if  this  alternative  is  adopted,  the 
parliament  will  be  besieged  by  starving  country  gentlemen  and 
farmers.     Look  which  side  one  may,  I  do  not  perceive  how  the 
evils  are  to  be  avoided,  which,  sooner  or  later,  must  attend  those 
who  have  over-traded,  or  the  demand  for  whose  commodities  is 
greatly  and  rapidly  diminished.    You  have  considered  these  mattei's 
more  than  I  have  done ;    but  it  appears  to  me  that  the  same  con- 
sequence has  now  overtaken  the  nation,  (which  is,  after  all,  only  a 
collection  of  individuals,)  as  individuals  under  such  cases  experi- 
ence ;  and  that  every  soul  in  the  country  must  sit  down  with  a  posi- 
tive loss  of  so  much  struck  off  from  what  he  lately  believed  him- 
self possessed  of.     Even  then,   thank  God,   more  will  probably 
remain  to  each  than  is  possessed  by  individuals  of  corresponding 
station  in  any  country  in  the  world  ;   but  the  transit  is,  and  must 
be,  very  painful ;  and,  as  each  person  can  only  meet  it  by  retrench- 
ment of  his  expences,  so  it  falls  most  heavily  on  those  (too  numer- 
ous a  class  in  this  country,)  who  have  earned  their  bread  by  sup- 
plying others  with  superfluities,  under  which  name  every  comfort 
that  can  be  dispensed  with,  is  likely  to  be  included  by  a  great  part 
of  the  nation. 

"  I  quite  agree  with  you  that  government  will  be  compelled 
to  make  concessions ;  I  only  trust  that  they  will  be  made  in  time 
to  prevent  still  more  unreasonable  demands,  and  that  they 
Avill  be  of  a  natvire  really  to  meet  the  evil,  which  can  only,  I 
should  think,  be  alleviated  by  a  diminution  of  taxes,  and  an 
ostentatious  removal  of  sinecures  and  extravagance.  The  peo- 
ple now  are  heartily  wretched,  and  cordially  inclined  to  lay  the 
blame  of  their  misery  on  any  cause  which  may  be  pointed  out  to 


THE  DISTRESSES  OF  THE  COUNTRY.  463 

them.     But  a  compliance  with  their  plans  of  reforming  parlia-    ^'^^f- 
ment  would  be  worse  than  loss  of   time,  inasmuch  as  it  could      ^»'7- 

not  relieve  a  single  symptom  of  the  public  distress.     *         *         * 

*  *  *  * 

"  I  have  just  been  reading  Clarendon's  first  volume  aloud  to 
my  wife.  I  had  not  looked  at  it  for  many  years,  and  am  a  good 
deal  surprised  with  many  points  of  resemblance  between  that  time 
and  our  present  prospects.  The  same  accusations  of  extravagance 
and  supposed  luxury  in  the  court,  and  complaints  of  bad  times 
among  the  jieople,  appear,  as  now,  to  have  been  the  primary  causes 
of  discontent.  The  cry  of  reformation  m  the  Church,  to  whose 
abiTses  all  the  ills  of  the  country  were  imputed,  was  then  as  mere 
a  stalking-horse  for  sedition  as  reform  in  parliament  is  now ;  and 
those  who  were  most  clamorous  then,  appear  to  have  really  cared 
as  little  for  religion,  as  those  who  make  most  noise  at  present  do 
for  liberty ;  and  what  is  more  to  our  purpose,  there  was,  at  first, 
the  same  want  of  men  of  consequence  and  remarkable  abilities  on 
the  disaffected  side  as  there  is  now ;  it  was  only  when  disaffec- 
tion became  universal  among  the  lower  classes,  that  it  began  to 
obtain  partizans  among  the  higher.  Yet,  when  this  point  was  once 
attained,  how  many  wise  and  good  and  powerful  persons  were  car- 
ried away  with  the  torrent ;  and  how  many  demagogues  of  great 
abilities  started  up  as  soon  as  the  number  of  their  followers  made 
it  safe  to  declare  themselves !  The  moral  will  be,  that  our  friend 
comforts  himself  too  soon  with  the  reflection  that  the  present 
discontents  are  not  dangerous,  because  they  have  no  leaders,  since, 
when  they  reach  a  certain  point,  such  leaders  will  not  be  wanting. 
What  should  now  be  done  is  to  remove  or  lighten  the  real 
burdens,  to  disregard  the  ignorant  or  insidious  remedies  which  are 
held  out  to  the  people  as  specifics,  and  to  repress,  with  as  much 
severity  as  possible,  all  tendency  to  innovation  or  revolution  ; 
taking  care,  however,  never  to  aim  a  blow  which  government  is 
not  very  sure  will  take  effect ;  never  to  bring  men  to  trial  whom 
they  are  not  sure  of  finding  guilty,  nor  ever  to  bring  out  troops 
unless  with  a  real  design  and  under  a  plain  necessity  of  bloodshed. 


464  ANECDOTE  OF  A  BEGGAR. 

CHAP.    Biting  may  be,  sometimes,  wise ;  showing  the  teeth,  never,  not 
1817.      even  with  cowards. 

"  What  I  have  said  is  chiefly,  however,  in  the  hope  of  engag- 
ing your  thoughts  on  these  subjects,  without  thinking  that  my 

own  suggestions  are  either  very  new  or  very  profound. 

*  *  ^  *  ^  0  * 

*  ^  ^  Ht  *  *  * 

*  *  I  have  just  retured  from  Wynnstay,  where  I 
went  to  meet  the  Grand  Duke  and  suite,  who,  however,  journeying 
as  royal  and  imperial  highnesses  usually  do,  had  left  the  house 
before  I  got  there,  having  paid  a  visit  of  abovit  ten  hours,  instead 
of  three  days,  as  had  been  expected.  I  can,  therefore,  give  you 
no  account  of  him." 

To  R.  J.  Wilmot,  Esq. 

Hodnet  Rectory,  April  19,  1817. 
"  Among  the  anecdotes  of  the  general  distress  of  the  times, 
the  following  is  not  least  singular.  While  I  was  at  Bodiyddan 
last  Monday,  the  overseer  of  an  adjoining  village  came  to  ask  the 
Dean's  directions  about  a  miserable  beggar,  who  had  fallen  from 
weakness  in  the  street,  and  who  seemed  dying.  The  apothecary, 
who  happened  to  be  in  the  house,  was  despatched  to  the  spot,  and 
directions  were  given  for  providing  the  miserable  object  with  food, 
lodging,  &c.  On  the  apothecary's  return,  he  reported  that  the 
man  was  dying  of  hunger  and  filth  ;  that  the  vermin  had,  appa- 
rently, eaten  into  his  flesh,  and  that  his  rags  and  person  were  in 
such  a  state  that  none  of  the  cottagers  could  be  bribed  to  take 
him  into  their  houses.  They  laid  him  in  a  barn,  where  he  was  a 
little  revived  by  some  broth  ;  and  then,  with  much  caution  and 
reluctance,  they  proceeded  to  remove  his  rags,  as  it  was  considered 
absolutely  necessary  to  wash  and  fumigate  him  with  tobacco  water. 
In  the  rags  they  found  eighteen  guineas  in  gold,  seven  or  eight 
pounds'  worth  of  old  silver,  fifteen  dollars,  and  twenty-seven  shil- 
lings.    The   man's   age    seemed  to  be  about  sixty.     He  had  a 


DISTRESSES  OF  THE  COUNTRY.  465 

remarkably  intelligent  countenance,  and  spoke  English  well,  but  chap. 
from  weakness  said  very  little ;  except  weakness  and  filth  he  ^»'7- 
seemed  to  have  no  complaint.  Is  not  this  a  strange  picture  of 
existence  ?  A  man  with  the  means  of  purchasing  food  and  com- 
fort, literally  reduced  to  the  brink  of  the  grave  for  want  of  both  ! 
Yet  it  is  not  a  story  to  which  I  would,  at  this  time  of  distress, 
give  too  great  publicity.  It  cannot  be  a  case  of  frequent  occur- 
rence, and  there  are  many  people  who  are  glad  to  urge  such 
stories  as  reasons  for  disbelieving  all  instances  of  distress." 

To  R.  W.  Hay,  Esq. 

Hodnet  Rectory,  May  4,  1817. 

"  My  Dear  Hay, 

****** 
*  *  *  *  *  * 

"  We  wished  for  you  very  much  this  spring  at  Hodnet,  to 
complete  a  party  wliich  I  think  you  would  have  found  not  an 
unpleasant  one  ;  but  I  knew  too  well  that  wishing  was,  at  that  time, 
vain.  Wilmot  stayed  a  week  longer  than  the  rest  of  our  friends. 
*  *  *  He  gives  a  good  account  of  the  party  at  Grillon's, 
which  has,  certainly,  obtained  some  very  valuable  accessions. 
Wilmot  says  that  in  London  nobody  is  talking  of  distress  ;  here, 
where  we  have  not  many  other  things  to  talk  of,  it  is  a  standing 
subject  of  conversation.  The  amount  of  suffering  is,  unquestion- 
ably, great  in  this  neighbourhood ;  though  as  we  have  no  mamtfac- 
turing  population,  it  does  not  appear  in  so  terrible  a  shape  as  in 
many  parts  of  England,  and  much  has  been  done  in  a  very  judi- 
cious manner  by  different  persons  and  parishes  towards  employing 
the  poor  on  the  roads. 

"  The  farmers  are  in  rather  better  spirits  than  they  were 
during  the  winter,  and  those  who  were  not  obliged  to  thresh  their 
corn  early,  find  it  better  in  quality  than  was  the  case  with  such  as 
poverty  compelled  to  sell  it  while  new.  Potatoes  are  at  present 
the  most  urgent  want,  and  which  is  likely  to  extend  in  its  conse- 

VOL.  I.  3    o 


466  DISTRESSES  OF  THE  COUNTRY. 

CHAP,  quences  into  next  year,  since  many  of  the  labourers  will  hardly 
^"^7-  get  a  sufficiency  to  plant  their  gardens  with.  I  do  not  think  that 
either  the  Spencean  or  the  reformist  partizans  have  made  many 
converts  among  us  ;  though  I  verily  believe  that  Southey's  power- 
ful exposition  of  the  principles  of  the  former,  as  it  appeared  in  the 
Quarterly,  and  has  since  been  copied  into  all  provincial  papers,  has 
put  many  odd  fancies  into  the  brains  of  men,  who,  but  for  this 
infusion,  would  never  have  dreamt  of  such  a  system.  It  is  a  great 
misfortune,  by  the  way,  that  a  poor  man  who  is  fond  of  reading, 
has  so  little  wholesome  nourishment  provided  for  this  laudable 
api^etite,  that  he  is  almost  driven  to  satisfy  it  with  publications 
of  the  worst  description,  which  are  carefully  disseminated  through 
the  country.  This  evil  is  not  met  by  the  usual  distribution  of 
tracts  by  the  different  religious  societies,  since  their  works  are  not 
read  as  amusement ;  and  therefore,  though  they  may  sometimes 
correct  the  evil  of  a  blasphemous  or  seditious  publication,  do  not 
come  in  instead  of  such  a  work.  Mrs.  Hannah  More's  repository, 
to  a  certain  extent,  answered  this  object,  but  an  abridgement  of 
some  historical  books,  of  the  lives  of  the  admirals,  Southey's 
Nelson,  Hume's  history,  &c.  would,  I  think,  be  of  still  greater 
advantage,  if  a  society  could  be  instituted  to  print  them  in  num- 
bers, so  cheap  as  to  make  it  more  worth  the  while  of  the  hawkers 
to  sell  them  than  Paine's  Age  of  Reason,  &c.  which  I  believe  they 
now  do  sell  to  a  greater  amount  than  is  generally  supposed. 

"  We  are  all  here,  as  makers  of  cheese,  in  great  sorrow  that 
the  salt  tax  is  not  taken  off.  Have  you  been  ever  induced  to  turn 
your  attention  to  the  fisheries,  so  as  to  have  ascertained  to  what 
extent  it  affects  them,  or  how  far  they  are  susceptible  of  im- 
provement ?" 

To  It.  J.  Wilmot,  Esq. 

Hodnet  Rectory,  May  4,  1817. 

u  *  *  *  gjj.  JqI^j^  w\[\  ig  ygi-y  full  of  the  advantage  of 
tacking  a  clause  to  the  bill  for  assisting  parishes,  &c.  to  enable  them 


PLANS  FOR  RELIEVING  DISTRESS.  467 

to  enclose  commons  without  a  special  act  of  parliament ;  and  has  chap. 
written  to  our  comity  members  on  the  subject.  He  says  that  ^"'^- 
there  are  many  parishes  where  the  best  possible  effects  wovilcl 
follow  from  attaching  a  farm  to  the  poor-house  ;  and  that  wherever 
there  is  a  common  this  might  be  done  without  difficulty.  If  yoit 
think  the  measure  ^vorth  discussing,  or  that  any  benefit  could 
arise  from  naming  it,  you  would  confer  on  the  good  old  baronet  a 
great  obligation,  by  mentioning  it  to  some  of  your  parliamentary 
friends.  I  am  myself  not  very  sanguine  in  expecting  advan- 
tage from  Mr.  Vansittart's  plan,  either  Mith  or  without  this  addi- 
tional clause.  Some  individual  cases  of  distress  may  be  alleviated, 
and  that  species  and  degree  of  relief  given  to  the  public,  which 
would  be  obtained  by  an  issue  of  bank  paper  to  the  same  amount, 
increasing  the  quantity,  and,  so  far  as  it  reaches,  depreciating  the 
value  of  the  circulating  medium,  which,  on  Franklin's  principle, 
which  you  may  recollect  talking  over,  may  be,  as  far  as  it  goes,  no 
bad  thing  for  debtors,  or  for  nations  in  debt.  I  had  rather  the  salt 
tax  had  been  struck  off,  or  reduced  to  half  its  present  rate;  and 
verily  think  that  by  the  stimulus  which  it  would  have  given  to  the 
fisheries,  as  well  as  to  dairy  and  grazing  forms,  a  more  general 
relief  Avould  have  been  afforded  to  the  country. 

"  I  fancy  you  will  have,  by  this  time,  received  my  e])istoIa 
ohjnrgatoria,  in  answer  to  the  British  Critic,  on  the  style  of  which 
I  shall  be  glad  to  have  your  opinion. 

"  I  am  glad  you  have  met  with  Charles  Vaughan ',  of  ^vhora  I 
have  a  very  high  opinion  ;  he  has  excellent  sense,  and  very  pleasing 
manners  and  disposition.  Many  thanks  for  your  repeated  kind 
invitation  to  Montague  Square.  I  want  no  persuasions  to  induce 
me  to  accept  it,  as  independent  of  the  pleasure  of  being  with  you, 
I  have  a  periodical  thirst  after  London  society  this  time  of  year. 
Yet,  to  say  the  truth,  I  have  so  much  to  do,  and  see  so  many 
hindrances  in  the  way,  that  I  can  scarcely  promise  myself  the  in- 
dulgence." 

'  Right  Hon.  C.  R.  Vauglian,  now,  1830,  British  minister  in  America. — Ed. 

3  o  2 


468  ON  THE  DISTINCTION  BETWEEN  THE  TWO  MARIES. 

CHAP.  About  this  time  Mr.  Reginald  Heber  was  asked  by  a  friend 

XIV.  '^  .  .  Ill 

'«n.  to  look  over  a  MS.  intended  for  publication.  Its  author  had 
fallen  into  the  errour  of  believing  that  Mary  Magdalene  was 
a  woman  of  abandoned  character  before  she  became  a  follower  of 
our  Saviour,  thus  confounding  her  with  the  "  sinner"  who  also 
washed  our  Saviour's  feet.  The  letter  in  whicli  Mr.  Reginald 
Heber  entered  at  considerable  length  into  the  question,  has,  acci- 
dentally, been  lost ;  but  at  the  request  of  a  sister  of  the  editor, 
who  had  occasionally  heard  the  subject  argued,  and  who  wished 
to  have  it  in  her  power  to  show  his  recorded  opinion,  he  wrote 
the  following  treatise,  drawing  such  a  distinction  between  them, 
as  to  make  it  impossible  for  its  readers  to  confound  the  one  with 
the  other. 

"  It  has  been  a  very  common  opinion  among  Christians,  that 
Mary  Magdalene  was  a  prostitute  before  she  became  a  follower  of 
Christ.  This  rests,  partly,  on  the  supposed  connexion  of  some 
passages  of  Scripture,  partly  on  alleged  tradition.  I  will  examine 
both  these  grounds.  Of  Mary  Magdalene,  under  that  name, 
nothing  is  related  in  Scripture  which  can  favour  such  an  opinion. 
She  is  said,  indeed,  to  have  been  possessed  by  seven  devils,  and  to 
have  been  delivered  from  this  affliction  by  our  Lord.  (Luke  viii.  2.) 
But  this  was  a  misfortune  by  no  means  confined  to  the  wicked,  and 
is  no  where  spoken  of  in  the  Gospels  as  more  judicial  than  any 
disease,  by  whatever  means  occasioned.  And  all  which  we  read 
of  her  besides  is  highly  to  her  honour,  as  being  one  among  several 
devout  women  who  supported  Jesus,  when  alive,  by  their  contribu- 
tions, and  brought  an  expensive  preparation  of  spices  for  his  funeral 
(Matt,  xxvii.  55-6. ;  Luke  viii.  2,  3. ;  Mark  xvi.  l.j.  The  probability 
is  that  she  (as  well  as  Joanna  the  wife  of  Herod's  steward)  was  a  per- 
son of  some  wealth  and  consideration.  But  be  that  as  it  may,  often 
as  Mary  Magdalene  is  mentioned,  we  hear  nothing  of  her  previous 
sins,  or  her  exemplary  repentance.  We  read,  however,  that  as 
Jesus  was  at  meat  in  a  house  at  Bethany,  a  woman  named  Mary, 
the  sister  of  Martha,  and  of  Lazarus,  whom  Christ  raised  from  the 


ON  THE  DISTINCTION  BETWEEN  THE  TWO  MARIES.  469 

dead,  anointed  the  feet  of  Jesus  with  precious  ointment  and  wiped  chap. 
them  with  her  hau-;  (John  xii.  1,  2,  3.)  and,  by  comparing  the  i^'?- 
accounts  given  by  St.  Matthew  xxvi.  6,  7.,  and  by  St.  Mark  xiv. 
3,  4.  of  what  appears  to  be  the  same  transaction,  we  learn  that  this 
took  place  in  thehouse  of  one  aS'/wow  of  Bethany  surnamed 'the  leper.' 
This  is  apprehended  to  be  the  same  event  which  is  related  by  St. 
Luke  vii.  37,  38.  ;  in  which  also  a  woman,  of  whoin  it  was  expressly 
said  that  she  was  '  a  sinner,'  is  introduced  as  anomting  our  Lord's 
feet,  washing  them  with  her  tears,  and  wiping  them  with  her  hair, 
the  house  of  one  Simo?i  a  Pharisee.  And  by  understanding  the 
word  '  sinner'  to  mean  a  prostitute,  and  identifying  the  sinner  in 
question  with  Marij  of  Bethany,  whom  they  suppose  to  be  the 
same  with  Mary  Magdalene,  the  persons  of  whom  I  speak  arrive 
at  the  conclusion  that  Mary  Magdalene  was  a  prostitute. 

"  Now  1st.  It  is  by  no  means  certain  that  the  word  '  sinner' 
means  a  prostitute.  The  objection  of  the  Pharisee  to  her  being 
allowed  to  '  touch'  our  Saviour  (Luke  vii.  39.),  would  have 
applied  to  any  inmioral  person,  or  any  one  under  the  censm-es  of 
the  Mosaic  law '. 

"  2dly.  The  coincidences  of  the  '  precious  ointment,'  and 
the  name  of  '  Simon'  are  not  enough  to  prove  that  St.  Matthew, 
St.  Mark,  and  St.  John  are  speaking  of  the  same  event  which  St. 
Luke  records,  since  the  ceremony  of  perfuming  illustrious  guests 
has  always  been  usual  in  the  east,  and  may,  therefore,  have  been 
more  than  once  practised  on  our  Saviour  by  those  who  believed  in 
Him  ;  and  since  Simon  is  so  common  a  name  among  the  Jews,  that 
no  stress  can  be  laid  upon  it.  And  that  they  are  not  speaking  of 
the  same  event  is  plain  :  1st.  because  the  tenour  of  the  history,  as 
told  by  St.  Luke,  supposes  it  to  have  occurred  in  a  city  of  Galilee 
at  an  early  period  of  our  Saviour's  ministry ;  while  the  event  of 
which  the  other  Evangelists  speak,  took  place  at  Bethany,  a  village 
of  Judea,  in  our  Saviour's  last  visit  to  Jerusalem,  and,  by  the 
reproof  which,  in  consequence  of  it,  he  gave  to  Judas,  conducted 

'  See  Drusius  de  iii.  Sectis. 


470  ON  THE  DISTINCTION  BETWEEN  THE  TWO  MARIES. 


CHAP,    almost  immediately  to  the  revenge  and  treason  of  the  latter.    2dly. 

i«i7.  It  does  not  seem  probable  that  the  person  described  by  St.  Luke 
as  '  a  sinner,'  can  have  been  Mary,  sister  of  Lazarus,  because,  in 
the  former  case,  the  Pharisee  conceived  it  to  be  a  proof  that  Jesus 
was  no  prophet,  that  He  did  not  know  '  who  the  woman  was  that 
touched  Him.'  This  proves  that  she  must  have  been  a  stranger, 
since  no  prophetic  power  was  necessary  to  know  an  acquaintance. 
But  Mary,  sister  of  Lazarus,  had  long  before  been  intimate  with 
Jesus,  and  even  dear  to  Him,  as  appears  by  the  xiith  chapter  of 
St.  John,  which,  in  fact,  is  equally  decisive  against  her  being  the 
sinner  here  spoken  of,  or  her  having  been  a  sinner  at  all  in  any 
notorious  and  flagrant  respect,  at  the  time  Avhen  she  anointed  the 
feet  and  head  of  Christ.  The  sinner,  then,  whose  penitence  is 
recorded  by  St.  Luke,  was  not  Mary,  the  sister  of  Martha  and 
Lazarus. 

"  3rdly.  But,  if  we  were  even  to  concede  that  all  the  Evan- 
gelists were  describing  the  same  event,  still,  though  the  previous 
character  of  this  Mary  would  be  reflected  on,  yet  it  is  certain  that 
she  and  Mary  Magdalene  were  different  persons.  1st,  because 
St.  Luke,  who  always  speaks  of  the  latter  with  the  addition  of 
Magdalene,  does,  thereby,  very  clearly  distinguish  her  from  the 
person  of  whom  he  speaks  as  '  a  sister  of  Martha  called  Mary.' 
(St.  Luke  X.  39).  2dly,  the  surname  of  '  Magdalene'  implies 
that  the  birth-place  or  residence  of  the  former  was  Magdala  or 
Migdol,  a  city  of  Galilee  ;  and  she  is  accordingly  described  as  one 
of  the  women  who  '  followed  Christ  out  of  Galilee'  to  Jerusalem. 
This  does  not  agree  with  Mary  the  sister  of  Martha  and  Lazarus, 
who  never  that  we  know  of  was  in  Galilee,  residing  with  her  brother 
at  Bethany,  near  Jerusalem  ;  and  so  far  from  being  a  constant  at- 
tendant on  Jesus,  sends  after  him  into  Galilee  to  implore  him  to 
heal  her  brother  in  his  sickness.  This  Mary  then  is  not  the  same 
with  Mary  Magdalene  ;  and  the  latter  would  not  be  implicated  in 
any  reflexions  cast  on  the  former. 

"  4thly.     But  still,   it  may  be  said,  the  sinner  mentioned  by 
St.  Luke,  may  have  been  Mary  Magdalene,  though  not  Mary  the 

10 


ON  THE  DISTINCTION  BETWEEN  THE  TWO  MARIES.  471 

sister  of  Lazarus.  This  is  a  mere  assumption  without  any  proof  chap. 
whatever  ;  and  the  circumstances  of  the  history  offer  some  violent  '^^7- 
presumptions  to  the  contrary.  Thus,  if  the  sinner  mentioned  by 
St.  Luke  had  been  Mary  IVLngdalene,  it  is  strange  that  he  should 
have  named  the  latter,  two  verses  after,  without  even  hinting  that 
she  was  the  same  with  her  whose  penitence  he  had  just  recorded 
(Luke  viii.  2).  Again,  Mary  Magdalene  is  known  to  have  been 
a  constant  attendant  on  our  Lord's  person  and  wants.  But  is  it 
probable  that  Christ,  at  the  age  of  thirty,  and  surrounded  by 
calumniators,  should  have  chosen  a  prostitute  for  this  situation^ 
however  He  might,  in  His  own  wisdom,  know  her  to  be  re- 
formed ?  And,  further,  we  find  Him  so  far  from  calling  into  His 
ser\TLce  the  sinner  in  question,  that  He,  to  all  appearance,  dis- 
misses her  to  her  own  house, — '  thy  faith  hath  saved  thee,  go  in 
peace  !'  Here,  surely,  is  no  encouragement  to  a  closer  attendance 
on  Him. 

"  It  is  plain,  then,  that  the  whole  opinion  of  IVLiry  Magdalene's 
loose  character  is  founded  on  mistake,  so  far  as  Scripture  is  con- 
cerned. As  to  tradition,  it  is  not  worth  while  to  spend  much  time 
on  it.  Jerome  expressly  distinguishes  the  woman  who  anointed 
Christ's  head  in  the  house  of  Simon  of  Bethany,  from  the  '  meretrix' 
who  washed  his  feet  in  the  house  of  Simon  the  Pharisee  (Comm. 
in  Matt,  xxvii.  T.  vi.  p.  57).  INLary  Magdalene  he  calls  '  a  widow,' 
and  says  nothing  of  her  having  been  a  harlot  in  the  commentary  on 
St.  Mark  xv.  which  bears  his  name,  T.  vi.  p.  87.  Origen  beheves 
all  the  three  narratives  of  Christ's  unction  to  relate  to  different 
events  and  to  different  women,  and  does  not  seem  to  apprehend 
that  any  of  the  three  was  the  same  as  Mary  Magdalene.  Chry- 
sostom  supposes  the  unction  which  took  place  in  the  house  of 
Simon  the  leper,  to  be  the  same  with  that  which  took  place  in  the 
house  of  Simon  the  Pharisee ;  but  denies  that  '  the  sinner'  was 
Mary  sister  of  Lazarus,  and  no  where  hints  the  possibility  of  her 
being  Mary  Magdalene.  As  for  the  pretended  history  of  Mary 
Magdalene,  purporting  to  be  written  by  one  Marcella,  servant  to 


472  ON  THE  DISTINCTION  BETWEEN  THE  TWO  MARIES. 

CHAP.     Martha,  sister  of  Lazarus,  it  is  a  mere  novel  of  modern  fabrication, 

XIV.  ' 

'8'7  and  rejected  by  all  critics,  Catholic  and  Protestant.  Yet  this 
legend,  and  the  authority  of  the  Roman  Cathohc  missal,  are  all 
which  can  be  urged  in  favour  of  the  popular  opinion  Avhich  we  have 
been  examining.  The  ancient  Fathers  are  either  opposed  to  it, 
or  altogether  silent." 


CHAPTER    XV. 


Mr.  Reginald  Heher  appointed  Prehendary  of  St.  Asaph — "  The  Spring  Journey" — 
"  Happiness" — "  Carol  far  Mag-dag" — Ladies'"  Association  at  CormcaUis  House 
— 0.vlee  "  On  the  Trinity" — Distress  in  Shropshire — Mr,  Nolan — Southeg^s 
"  Historg  of  the  Brazils" — Chalmer's  "  Astronomical  Discourses" — proposed 
heads  of  Mr.  Reginald  Heber's  University  Sermons — "  Sketch  of  the  Military 
and  Political  Power  of  Russia" — Typhus  fever  at  Hodnet — Birth  of  Mr.  Regi- 
nald Hebcr's  first  child — Proposed  union  between  the  Societgfor  the  Propagation 
of  the  Gospel  and  the  Church  Missionary  Society — Changes  in  O.vford — Death 
of  Mr.  Reginald  Heber's  child. 

In  1817  the  late  Bishop  of  St.  Asaph,  Dr.  Luxmoore,  appointed  chap. 
Mr.  Reginald  Heber  to  a  stall  in  that  Cathedral,  at  the  request  of  isif 
his  father-in-law,  the  Dean  of  St.  Asaph.  His  journeys  into  Wales 
became,  in  consequence,  more  frequent;  and  as  he  usually  made 
them  on  horseback,  he  beguiled  the  loneliness  of  the  way  with 
poetical  compositions,  generally  suggested  by  the  scenes  around 
him.  From  these  lighter  effusions  of  his  muse  the  following  are 
selected. 

THE  SPRING  JOURNEY  '. 

Oh  green  was  the  com  as  I  rode  on  my  way. 
And  bright  were  the  dews  on  the  blossoms  of  May, 
And  dark  was  the  sycamore's  shade  to  behold. 
And  the  oak's  tender  leaf  was  of  emerald  and  gold. 

'  Several  of  Mr.  Reginald  Heber's  Hymns,  and  some  of  his  minor  compositions, 
have  been  set  to  music  by  the  Rev.  W.  H.  Havergal,  for  the  benefit  of  different  charitable 
institutions. 

VOL.   I.  3    P 


474  "  THE  SPRING  JOURNEY"—"  HAPPINESS." 

CHAP.  The  thrush  from  his  holly,  the  lark  from  his  cloud, 


XV. 

1817- 


Their  chorus  of  rapture  sung  jovial  and  loud ; 
From  the  soft  vernal  sky,  to  the  soft  gi'assy  ground, 
There  was  beauty  above  me,  beneath,  and  around. 

The  mild  southern  breeze  brought  a  shower  from  the  hill, 

And  yet,  though  it  left  me  all  di-opping  and  chill, 

I  felt  a  new  pleasure,  as  onward  I  sped, 

To  gaze  where  the  rainbow  gleam'd  broad  over  head. 

Oh,  such  be  Ufe's  journey,  and  such  be  our  skill. 

To  lose  in  its  blessings  the  sense  of  its  ill ; 

Through  sunshine  and  shower  may  our  progress  be  even, 

And  our  tears  add  a  charm  to  the  prospect  of  Heaven  ! 


HAPPINESS. 


One  morning  in  the  month  of  May 

I  wander'd  o'er  the  hill ; 
Though  natiu-e  aU  around  was  gay. 

My  heart  was  heavy  still. 

Can  God,  I  thought,  the  good,  the  gi-eat. 
These  meaner  creatures  bless, 

And  yet  deny  our  human  state 
The  boon  of  happiness  ? 

Tell  me,  ye  woods,  ye  smiling  plains. 

Ye  blessed  birds  around, 
Where,  in  creation's  wild  domains. 

Can  perfect  bliss  be  foimd .? 

The  birds  wild  caroll'd  over  head, 
The  breeze  around  me  blew. 

And  natiue's  awfid  chorus  said. 
No  bliss  for  man  she  knew ! 

I  question'd  love,  whose  early  ray 

So  heav'nly  bright  appears ; 
And  love,  in  answer,  seem'd  to  say, 

His  light  was  dimm'd  by  tears. 


"  HAPPINESS."  475 

I  question'd  friendship, — friendship  mourn'd,  CHAP. 

And  thus  her  answer  gave  :  igjj. 

The  friends  whom  fortune  had  not  turn'd  === 

Were  vanished  in  the  grave ! 

I  ask'd  of  feeling, — if  her  skill 

Could  heal  the  wounded  breast  ? 
And  found  her  sorrows  streaming  still, 

For  others'  griefs  distrest. 

I  ask'd  if  vice  could  bliss  bestow  ? 

Vice  boasted  loud  and  well : 
But,  fading,  from  her  pallid  brow 

The  venom'd  roses  fell. 

I  question'd  virtue, — virtue  sigh'd, 

No  boon  could  she  dispense ; 
Nor  virtue  was  her  name,  she  cried. 

But  humble  penitence ! 

I  question'd  Death, — the  grisly  shade 

Relax'd  his  brow  severe  ; 
And,  "  I  am  happiness,"  he  said, 

"  If  virtue  guides  thee  here  !" 


Oh  for  the  morning  gleam  of  youth,  the  half-unfolded  flower, 

Tliat  sparkles  in  the  diamond  dew  of  that  serener  hour. 

What  time  the  broad  and  level  sun  shone  gaily  o'er  the  sea. 

And  in  the  woods  the  birds  awoke  to  songs  of  extacy. 

The  sun,  that  gilds  the  middle  arch  of  man's  matiurer  day, 

Smites  heavy  on  the  jiilgrim's  head,  who  plods  his  dusty  way; 

The  birds  are  fled  to  deeper  shades — the  dewy  flowers  are  dried, 

And  hope,  that  with  the  day  was  bom,  before  the  day  has  died  ; 

For  who  can  j)roinise  to  his  soul  a  tranquil  eventide  ? 

Yes — though  the  dew  will  gleam  anew — though  from  its  western  sky. 

The  sun  will  give  as  mild  a  ray  as  morning  could  supply — 

Tliough  from  her  tufted  tliom  again  wiU  sing  the  nightingale, 

Yet  little  will  the  ear  of  age  enjoy  her  tender  tale ; 

And  night  will  find  us  toiling  on  with  joyless  travail  worn, 

For  day  must  pass,  and  night  must  come  before  another  mom. 

3  p  2 


476  "  CAROL  FOR  MAY  DAY. 


CHAP. 

xy-  TO  A  WELCH  AIR. 


1817- 


I  mourn  not  the  forest  whose  verdure  is  dying  ; 

I  moiun  not  the  summer  whose  beauty  is  o'er ; 
I  weep  for  the  hopes  that  for  ever  are  fljing ; 

I  sigh  for  the  worth  that  I  slighted  before ; 
And  sigh  to  bethink  me  how  vain  is  my  sighing, 

For  love,  once  extinguished,  is  kindled  no  more. 

The  spring  may  return  with  his  garland  of  flowers, 
And  wake  to  new  rapture  the  bird  on  the  tree  ; 

The  summer  smile  soft  through  his  chrystalline  bowers ; 
The  blessings  of  autumn  wave  brown  o'er  the  lea ; 

The  rock  may  be  shaken — the  dead  may  awaken. 
But  the  friend  of  my  bosom  returns  not  to  me. 


CAROL  FOR  MAY-DAY. .-. 

Queen  of  fresh  flowers, 

Wliom  vernal  stars  obey, 
Bring  thy  warm  showers, 

Bring  thy  genial  ray. 
In  natiu-e's  greenest  livery  drest. 
Descend  on  earth's  expectant  breast, 
To  earth  and  Heaven  a  welcome  guest. 

Thou  merry  month  of  May  ! 

Mark  how  we  meet  thee 

At  dawn  of  dewy  day  ! 
Hark  !  how  we  greet  thee 

With  our  roundelay ! 
While  all  the  goodly  things  that  bo 
In  earth,  and  air,  and  ample  sea. 
Are  waking  up  to  welcome  thee. 

Thou  meny  month  of  May  ! 

Flocks  on  the  mountains, 
And  birds  upon  their  spray, 

Tree,  turf,  and  fountains, 
AU  hold  holyday ; 


LADIES'  ASSOCIATION  AT  CORNWALLIS  HOUSE.  477 

And  love,  the  life  of  living  things,  CIIAP. 


Love  waves  his  torch,  love  claps  his  wings, 
And  loud  and  wide  thy  praises  sings, 
Thou  merry  month  of  May  1 


■  I 


To  the  Lady  Isabella  King  \ 

Hodnet  Rectory,  May  22,  1817. 
"  Madam, 

"  I  am  ashamed  to  think  that  so  long  a  time  has 
elapsed  without  my  acknowledging  the  honour  which  your  lady- 

'  The  following  extract  from  Mr.  Southey's  "  Colloquies,"  will  explain  the  nature  and 
objects  of  the  institution  to  which  this  letter  refers  : 

"  Sir  Thomas  More.  •  •  •  •  Methinks  it  should  make  a  living  heart  ache  to  think, 
whenever  this  land  of  credit  is  shaken  by  a  commercial  eartliquake,  how  many  a  goodly  fabric 
of  happiness  is  laid  in  ruins  ;  and  to  know  how  many  women,  who  have  been  bred  up  among 
all  the  refinements  of  affluence,  and  with  the  expectation  that  their  fortune  was  in  no  danger  of 
any  such  reverse,  are  reduced  to' seek  for  themselves  a  scanty  and  precarious  support,  by  the 
exercise  of  those  talents  which  had  been  cultivated  for  recreation  or  for  display.  •  »  »  * 
You  have  no  convents,  no  religious  commimities  in  which  such  persons  may  be  received  and 
sheltered.       ■  •  *  •  •  *  •  * 

"  Montesinos. — An  experiment  of  this  kind  has  been  undertaken  ;  it  remains  to  be  seen 
whether  this  generation  will  have  the  honour  of  supporting  it,  or  the  disgrace  of  sulTering  it  to 
fail.  That  which  is  most  essential,  and  which  might  have  seemed  most  difficult  to  find,  was 
found  ;  an  institutress  who  devotes  her  fortimes,  her  influence,  and  her  life,  to  this  generous 
purpose  ;  and  who,  to  every  other  advantage,  adds  that  of  rank.  Her  institution  has  not  the 
sanction  only,  but  the  cordial  approbation  of  persons  in  the  highest  rank ;  but  efficient  patron- 
age is  still  wanting  ;  nor  is  it  likely  to  attain  that  general  attention  and  consequent  support 
which  its  general  utility  deserves.  The  likeliest  chance  for  its  being  rendered  permanent  seems 
to  be  from  posthumous  bounty,  if  some  of  those  persons,  (and  there  are  some  in  every  genera- 
tion) who  bequeath  large  sums  for  pious  purposes,  should  perceive  that  no  purpose  can  be 
more  pious  than  this. 

•  «■«•••*» 

"  Sir  Thomas  More. — There  is  no  endowment,  then,  for  this  institution  ? 

"  Montesinos. — None.  It  was  hoped  that  from  ten  to  fifteen  thousand  pounds  might 
have  been  raised,  which  would  have  sufficed  for  putting  it  upon  a  permanent  estabhshraent ; 
but  though  the  queen,  and  the  late  princess  Charlotte,  and  the  other  princesses,  contributed  to 
the  subscription,  not  5000/.  were  collected  ;  and  the  experiment  could  not  have  been  made,  had 
it  not  been  for  the  support  afforded  it  by  the  institutress.  Lady  Isabella  King,  and  by  those 
members  who  were  able  to  pay  a  high  rent  for  their  apartments  ; — the  scheme  being  devised 
for  three  classes,  differing  in  point  of  fortune,  but  upon  an  equal  footing  in  education,  principles 
and  maimers.     The  wealthier  members  contribute,  by  their  larger  payments,  to  the  support  of 


.\v. 
1817- 


178  LADIES'  ASSOCIATION  AT  CORNWALLIS  HOUSE. 

CHAP,  ship  has  conferred  on  me,  both  by  your  obliging  letter  and  your 
i8'7.  interesting  communication  through  Mr.  Stanley,  My  engage- 
ments have  been  very  numerous,  and  I  am,  I  fear,  at  best  but  a 
negligent  correspondent.  I  can,  however,  no  longer  delay  offer- 
ing you  my  best  thanks  for  the  flattering  attention  which  you 
have  paid  to  my  slight  hints  for  the  conduct  of  an  institution 
which  bids  fair,  if  successful,  to  lay  the  foundation  of  many  similar 
societies,  to  alleviate  much  distress  of  the  severest  nature,  and 
even  to  become  an  important  feature  in  the  domestic  prosperity  of 
the  nation.  I  have  read  your  rules  with  much  attention,  and  am 
really  unable  to  suggest  any  alteration  which  would,  in  the  present 
state  of  the  establishment,  be  advisable.  Mr.  Stanley  suggests 
that  an  article  in  the  Quarterly  Review  might  be  useful,  as  making 
the  plan  more  widely  known,  and  removing  the  foolish  objections 
to  which  every  new  idea  is  exposed.  I  am  not  sure  whether,  as 
the  little  work  which  you  have  sent  rae  is  unpublished,  it  will 
come  under  the  regular  cognizance  of  criticism ;  but  if  this  difficulty 
can  be  got  over,  I  shall  have  much  pleasure  in  offering  my  services 
if  no  better  advocate  presents  himself,  and  if  your  ladyship,  on 
further  consideration,  approves  of  the  measure. 

"  I  remain,  with  unfeigned  respect  for  the  ability  which  has 

the  establishment ;  the  second  class  pays  50^.  each  per  year  for  their  apartments  and  board  ; 
and  there  is  a  third  class  who,  having  no  means  of  their  own,  though  in  other  respects  peciUiarly 
fitted  for  such  an  institution,  as  well  as  peculiarly  in  need  of  such  an  asylum,  are  appointed  to 
official  situations,  with  salaries  annexed.  A  school  for  female  orphans,  belonging  to  the  same 
rank  of  life,  is  to  be  engrafted  on  the  scheme  whenever  funds  shall  be  obtained  for  it.  No 
habit  is  worn ;  the  institution  has,  necessarily,  its  regulations,  to  which  all  the  members  are 
expected  to  conform,  but  there  is  nothing  approaching  to  what,  in  your  days,  would  have  been 
called  a  rule.  It  must  be  needless  to  say  that  no  vows  are  required,  nor  even  an  engagement 
for  any  term  of  years.  The  scheme  has  succeeded  upon  trial,  insomuch  that  the  Queen,  when 
she  visited  it,  said  it  was  a  blessed  asylum  ;  and  it  would  be  as  beneficial  as  it  is  practicable,  if 
funds  for  extending  and  rendering  it  permanent  were  forthcoming." — Progress  and  Prospects 
of  Society,  vol.  ii.  p.  301,  &c." 

Cornwallis  House,  near  Bristol,  was  purchased  in  the  year  1821,  by  the  trustees  of  "the 
Ladies'  Association,"  as  the  permanent  residence  of  the  members.  Lady  Isabella  King  lives 
among  them,  presiding  over  the  society,  and  devoting  herself  to  its  welfare  and  improve- 
ment.— Ed. 


OXLEE  "  ON  THE  TRINITY."  479 

dictated  your  plan,  and  the  courageous  benevolence  which  has    chap. 
carried  you  through  its  difficulties,  _2^^L 

"  Madam, 

"  Your  ladyship's  obliged  humble  servant, 

"  Reginald  Heber." 

To  the  Rev.  J.  Oxlee. 

Hodnet  Rectory,  May  22,  1817. 

"  My  Dear  Sin, 

"  Accept  my  best  thanks  for  your  obliging  letter, 
and  the  very  learned  and  interesting  work '  which  you  have  sent 
me.     I   think   myself  unfortunate  that  it  had  not  fallen  in   my 
way  before  my  lectures  were  published,  and  still  more  that  my 
reply  to  the  attack  made  on  me  in  the  British  Critic,  was  already 
struck  off  before  your  work  reached  me.     Had  I  seen  the  last  in 
time,  you  are  perfectly  right  in  supposing  it  would  have  been  most 
useful  to  me.     As  it  is,  I  have  learnt  much  from  its  perusal,  and 
shall  be  happy  to  speak  of  it  as  it  deserves  in  the  preface  to 
the  second  edition  of  my  lectures,  now  preparing  for  the  public. 
There  ai*e,  I  must,  in  honesty,  confess,  some  points  on  which  I 
differ  from,  or  perhaps  I  do  not  understand  you,  and  on  which  I 
may,  possibly,  when  I  have  more  leisure  than  I  now  enjoy,  trouble 
you  Avith  a  few  observations.     I  mean,  in  particular,  that  your  view 
of  the  Trinity  may  be  understood  as  Tritheistic,  an  opinion  which 
I  am  convinced  you  did  not  mean  to  support,  but  which,  as  it 
seems  to  me,  some  parts  of  your  statement  might  be  so  perverted 
as  to  favour.     Your  arguments,  however,  for  the  plurality  of  the 
persons  are,  I  thmk,  perfectly  satisfactory ;    and  you  have  the  rare 
merit  of  having  been  the  first  m  the  present  generation  of  super- 
ficial readers,  to  call  the  attention  of  the  world  to  those  mines  of 
ancient  Hebrew  literature,  by  the  cultivation  of  which,  I  am  con- 

'  On  the  Trinit)'. 


480  DISTRESS  IN  SHROPSHIRE. 

CHAP,    vinced,  we  may  best  hope  to  interpret  Scripture  successfully,  and 
1817-     to  extend,   in  God's  good  time,  the  light  of  the  Gospel  to  the 
~  nation  from  which,  however  now  blinded,  we  ovu'selves  first  re- 

ceived it. 

"  With  sincere  respect  for  the  learning  and  talent  which  have 
been  now  made  known  to  me,  and  in  the  hope  that  circumstances 
may  allow  us  to  meet  as  well  as  to  correspond,  I  remain, 

"  Dear,  Sir, 

**  Yours  very  truly, 

"  Reginald  Heber." 

To  R.  J.  Wilmot,  Esq.  - 

Hodnet  Rectory^  July  17,  1817. 
«'  *  *  *  Have  you  been  led  by  your  confinement  to  write 
any  '  consolations  of  politics,'  or  has  pain  the  same  effect  on  you 
which  it  has  on  me,  to  indispose  you  from  any  serious  employment 
of  the  mind  ?  In  this  part  of  the  world  people  care  very  little  for 
Habeas  Corpus ;  but  a  blow  of  village  policy  has  just  been  struck, 
which  has  thrown  half  Shropshire  into  a  ferment.  The  mining 
parishes  have,  several  of  them,  declared,  in  a  legal  way,  their  utter 
inability  to  support  their  poor  any  longer,  and  have,  consequently, 
called  on  the  magistrates  to  rate  all  the  other  parishes  in  the 
hundred  or  county,  in  aid  of  their  levies.  In  consequence,  Hodnet 
has  been  ordered  by  three  justices  in  the  neighbom-hood  of  Wel- 
lington, to  send  in  a  statement  of  its  poor-rates,  in  order  to  deter- 
mine the  proportion  in  which  we  ought  to  be  assessed  for  this 
object.  My  flock  breathe  nothing  but  war  and  defiance,  as  might 
be  expected  from  persons  who  had  murmured  most  grievously 
vmder  the  necessary  burdens  of  their  own  parishioners.  The  law, 
however,  seems  to  me,  though  it  has  never  been  acted  on,  I  believe, 
since  the  time  of  Elizabeth,  in  favour  of  the  demand  made  on  us  ; 
but  there  are  so  many  previous  difficulties  to  be  got  over  before  any 
regular  assessment  can  be  enforced,  that  the  distressed  districts 
will  gain  little  by  their  measure.     It  is,  in  the  first  place,  not  easy 


DISTRESS  IN  SHROPSHIRE.  481 

to  determine  at  what  precise  point  a  parish  becomes  unable  to  chap 
support  its  poor.  Then,  all  the  parishes  are  rated  according  to  _^- 
valuations  of  their  property,  made  at  different  times,  and  by  differ- 
ent surveyors ;  some  almost  a  hundred  years  ago,  others  last  year, 
some  at  a  reduced  rate,  others  at  rack  rents.  All  this  must  be 
equalized,  or  any  parish  or  individual  may  appeal  from  the  charge 
made  on  him,  on  the  ground  that  it  is  more  than  his  share.  On 
the  whole,  I  fear  that  the  proposed  measure  will  produce  abundant 
harvests  to  attorneys  and  surveyors,  and  a  very  considerable  ex- 
pence  to  all  parties  besides,  with  but  little  benefit  to  the  sufferers. 
If  all  the  parishes  called  on  in  aid,  would  make  a  tender  of  some 
considerable  sum  as  a  free  gift,  and  the  magistrates  would  withdraw 
their  order,  more  effectual  good  might  be  obtained  ;  but  this,  I 
know  very  well,  is  not  to  be  expected.  The  forges  all  this  time 
are  in  a  reviving  state ;  but  the  miners,  unfortunately,  are  not  yet 
benefitted  by  this  circumstance,  since  at  the  commencement  of 
their  distresses,  the  iron  masters  continued  to  lay  in  stocks  of  ore, 
which  the  probable  consumption  of  many  months  to  come  will  not 
exhaust. 


To  R.  J.  Wilmot,  Esq. 

Hodnet  Rectory,  July  13,  1817. 

"  *  *  *  This  year  has  passed  with  me 

apparently  swifter,  and  in  a  more  stealthy  manner  than  most 
others,  for  lack  of  what  had  become  a  kind  of  annual  mile-post, 
a  mark  of  progress, — ^my  visit  to  London.  I  still  feel  as  if  the 
spring  was  not  over.  We  should  not  form  habits  and  unnecessary 
wants;  and,  therefore,  I  ought  to  be  glad  that  I  was  prevented  from 
availing  myself  of  the  hospitality  which  you  so  kindly  offered. 
But  it,  certainly,  was  a  sacrifice  ;  and  I  have  felt  it  more,  since 
I  found  that  I  might  have  helped,  if  not  to  nurse,  at  which 
I  am  no  great  proficient,  at  least  to  have  kept  you  company  on 
your  sofa.  Summer  is  generally  an  idle  time  with  me,  but  I  am 
now  busy  preparing  sermons  for  the  university  in  October  term. 

VOL.  I.  3    Q 


482  MR.  NOLAN. 

CHAP.  "  I  have  got  Mr.  Nolan's  answer  to  my  reply ;  it  is  not  a  retort 


XV. 


1817.  courteous,  but  this  I  had  no  particular  reason  to  expect  at  liis 
hands.  Whether  I  shall  write  him  a  formal  answer,  or  content 
myself  with  a  very  short  notice  of  his  pamphlet  in  the  preface  to 
the  new  edition  of  my  lectures,  I  do  not  yet  know.  Something  may 
depend  on  the  degree  of  circulation  which  his  work  appears  to 
obtain,  and  the  degree  of  credit  which  is  given  to  it,  which  my 
fiiends  in  Oxford  and  London  may  be  able  to  ascertain  for  me.  If 
I  reply,  it  will,  as  you  recommend,  be  very  shortly,  and  with  all 
my  disposeable  stock  of  good  temper.  There  is  one  point,  and  only 
one,  where  I  am,  at  present,  inclined  to  think  that,  from  haste  and 
want  of  information,  I  may  have  allowed  him  to  gain  an  advantage. 
This  I  can  easily  ascertain  when  I  go  to  the  Bodleian,  and  if  I 
find  myself  wrong  I  shall  not  hesitate  to  own  it. 


* 


"  If,  however,  his  pamphlet,  as  may  very  probably  be  the 
case,  has  few  readers,  and  those  few,  persons  of  little  consequence 
in  the  religious  or  literary  world :  if  men,  as  I  suspect,  care  too 
little  about  either  of  us  to  enquire  which  is  orthodox,  or  whether 
we  both  are  heretics,  I  shall,  I  think,  do  better  to  pay  undivided 
attention  to  those  progressive  studies  on  which  my  reputation  must 
eventually  depend.  In  this  hght  I  regard  myself  as  peculiarly 
fortunate  in  being  appomted  to  preach  again  at  Oxford,  since  a  few 
popular  sermons  there,  will  do  more  to  conciliate  favour  for  my 
future  efforts,  and  even  to  make  men  think  well  of  my  past  doings, 
than  all  the  answers  which  I  can  offer  to  charges  so  personal  and 
offensive,  as  some  of  those  wliich  Mr.  Nolan  has  brought  against 
me. 

To  R.  J.  Wilmot,  Esq. 

Hodnet  Rectory,  Sept.  24,  1817. 

"  I  am  now  reviewing  Southey's  Brazil ',  where  the  Jesuit 
institutions  will  be  interesting  to  all  those  who  have  studied  the 

'  History  of  the  Brazils,  vol.  ii.  Quarterly  Review,  1817. 


SOUTHEY'S  "  HISTORY  OF  THE  BRAZILS."  4S:3 

congenial  plans  of  Mr.  Owen,  who,  with  all  the  absurdity  of  his  ^"v^' 
new  religion,  &c.,  is  an  enthusiast  of  no  common  power.  I  should  '"'^- 
have  %\T[shed  to  have  been  able,  and  to  have  had  sufficient  time  to 
make  a  separate  article  on  him,  and  to  clear  from  the  bran  and 
chaff  which  make  up  the  greater  part  of  his  system,  such  parts  of 
it  as  are  really  valuable  and  practical,  whether  for  a  poor-house  or 
a  new  colony,  the  only  instances  to  which  any  portions  of  his  scheme 
can  apply.  *  *  *  Su-  Robert  Wilson's 

book  1  only  know  through  the  newspapers.  *  * 

****** 

"  There  are  many  good  reasons  why  Russia  never  can  be  so 
dangerous  to  this  country  as  France  was ;  among  which,  one  very 
obvious,  is  the  fact  that  she  has  never  been  able  to  put  great 
bodies  of  troops  in  motion  beyond  her  own  frontiers,  without  sub- 
sidies. The  armies  with  which  she  subdued  Turkey  and  Poland, 
were,  m  every  instance,  small.  *  *  * 

,>]f.  2j^  Jj£  ^  ^  alt  ^ 

"  I  am  greatly  delighted  vAi\\  Chalmers's  astronomical  dis- 
courses. *  *  *  -pijg  matter  is,  in  my  opinion, 
so  eloquent  and  admirable,  that  I  should  rejoice  at  few  things  luore 
than  to  hear  of  a  good  French  translation  of  them  being  under- 
taken. They  are  excellently  qualified  to  do  good  on  the  continent, 
both  in  a  religious  view  and  as  a  specimen  of  British  talent ;  and 
are  likely  not  only  to  retain  all  their  merits,  but  to  get  rid  of  their 
principal  faults,  when  strained  into  a  foreign  tongue.  His  '  evi- 
dences' I  have  not  yet  read.  *  »  * 

^  ^  vp  '5p  yft 

"  Heneage  Legge's  appointment  had  been  mentioned  to  me. 
I  was  much  surprised  at  his  accepting  it,  as  supposing  that  it 
obliged  him  to  give  up  his  profession,  in  which,  I  find,  I  was  mis- 
taken. I  rejoice  in  any  good  fortune  which  befalls  so  worthy  a 
man,  and  hope  that  this  may  lead  to  something  better. 

"  You  ask  me  concerning  Mr.  Nolan ;  I  am  no  less  surprised 
than  you  that  he  has  not  yet  renewed  liis  attack  on  me  as  he  pro- 
mised to  do.     I  cannot  suppose  that  he  has  abandoned  his  hostile 

3  Q  2 


484  TYPHUS  FEVER  AT  HODNET. 

CHAP,    intention ;  yet,  if  lie  delays  much  longer  the  appearance  of  his 
mi.      second  letter,  his  first  will  be  nearly  forgotten,  no  less  than  the 

pamphlet  which  called  it  forth ;  but  I  certainly  have  no  business 

to  hurry  him. 


To  John  Thornton,  Esq. 

Hodnet  Rectory,  Sept.  24,  1817. 
"      *  *  *     The  poor  round  us  have  been  all  sickly, 

with  a  tendency  to  typhus  fever.  I  feel  very  grateful  that  this 
did  not  occur  four  or  five  months  ago,  when  the  workhouse  and 
several  of  the  cottages  were  crowded  like  slave-ships.  At  present, 
the  iron-trade  having  revived,  the  greater  part  of  these  inmates  are 
returned  to  their  former  places  of  residence,  and  the  population, 
beine  neither  so  condensed  nor  so  miserable  as  it  was,  is  far  less 
likely  to  receive  or  transmit  infection. 

"  When  does  Inglis  return  from  Boulogne  ?     There  is  a  mea- 
gre and  unsatisfactory  review  '  of  the  works  of  his  and  your  friend 
Bowdler,  which,  though  I  beUeve  it  may  be  meant  as  friendly,  does 
great  injustice  to  his  principles,  and  misiepresents  one  of  his  argu- 
ments strangely.     You  have  probably  seen  the  article,  so  I  need 
not  repeat  what  he  or  they  say ;  but  it  is  plain  that  they  have 
entirely  overlooked  the  jet  of  his  argument,   which  is  to  show, 
that,  as  a  firm  persuasion  of  certain  physical  and  political  truths, 
as  having  a  tendency  to  produce  corresponding  actions,  has,  in  this 
world,  an  obvious  influence  on  our  happiness  ;  so,  in  another  world, 
our  happiness  may  depend  on  the  strength  and  accuracy  of  our 
religious  persuasions  here.     To  this,  it  is  no  answer  to  say  that  it 
is  not  the  belief,  but  the  conduct  which  arises  from  that  belief, 
which,  m  either  case,  leads  to  happiness  ;  the  belief  is,  in  both 
cases,  the  '  causa  sine  qud  non  of  the  conduct,  since  no  man  acts 
without  a  motive  ;  and  therefore  Bowdler's  answer  is  strictly  logi- 
cal, as  well  as  elegant. 

'  Quarterly  Review  for  1817. 

7 


PROPOSED  HEADS  OF  UNIYERSITi'  SERMONS.  485 

"  You  ask  respecting  the  subjects  of  my  intended  sermons  at    chai>. 
Oxford ;  one  is  on  the  existence,  power,  and  number  of  evil  spirits,      '»'7- 
and  a  practical  conclusion  on  the  necessity  of  Christian  watchful- 
ness ;   a  second  on  the  protection  afforded  through  the  agency 
of  Heavenly  spirits  by  the  Almighty ;  a  tliird  on  the  gain  of  a 
Christian  in  dying,  and  a  discussion  of  the  various  grounds  of  hope 
which  men  have  built  on  against  the  fear  of  death ;  a  fourth  will 
be,  I  believe,  on  St.  PavU's  shipwreck,  and  the  advantages  of  asso- 
ciating with  persons  of  holy  character.      *  *  * 
******               * 

*  *       I  had  a  visit  a  short  time  ago  from  Hatchard, 

the  bookseller,  and  Mortlock,  the  china-dealer,  who  were  going 
round  the  coimtry  on  a  benevolent  mission  from  the  Society  for 
relieving  the  manufacturing  poor.  I  was  glad  to  hear  from  them 
that  the  distress,  on  the  whole,  was  fast  diminishing.  What  is  now 
most  wanted  is  clothing." 

To  R.  IV.  Hay,  Esq. 

Hodnet  Rectory,  Sept.  24,  1817. 
******  * 

"  I  hope  you  have  got  through  the  autumn  in  better  health 
than  several  of  my  friends.     Poor  Gifford  has,  I  fear,  been  dismally 

ill.     What  is  to  become  of  the  Quarterly  when  he  goes  ?  * 

******  * 

"  The  Quarterly  Review  brings  Sir  R.  Wilson  into  my  head, 
whose  book  I  only  know  as  yet  by  the  extracts  in  the  Times,  but 
which  appears,  if  they  are  a  fau*  sample,  to  deserve  castigation, 
in  an  article,  which  may  prove  the  present  inability  and,  I  verily 
think,  indisposition  of  Russia  to  the  schemes  which  Sir  Robert 
Wilson  imputes  to  her ;  and  the  length  of  time  and  many  events 
in  the  chapter  of  accidents  which  may  be  expected  to  intervene 
before  she  really  becomes  what  Buonaparte's  empfre  was.  * 


* 


And  surely  it  would  not  be 


486  CHALMERS'S  "  ASTRONOMICAL  DISCOURSES." 

CHAP,  a  bad  piece  of  work  to  expose  the  inconsistency  of  those  who 
1817.  could  see  no  danger  from  Buonaparte  at  our  doors,  while  they  are 
so  tremblingly  alive  to  the  ambitious  schemes  which  may  be  enter- 
tained by  Alexander's  grandsons  '.  Is  there  not  one  respect  in 
which  we  are  rather  obliged  to  the  Princess  Charlotte's  choice  of 
a  husband,  than  to  our  own  wisdom  ?  I  mean,  that  the  greatest 
possible  danger  which  could  have  arisen  to  Europe,  would  have 
been  a  conspiracy  between  France  and  Russia  to  divide  the  world ; 
an  event  which  is  now  rendered  highly  im])robable  by  the  manner 
in  which  Russia  has  connected  herself  with  the  Netherlands  and 
Bavaria. 

"  To  pass  from  these  speculations  to  matters  more  befitting 
my  profession,  let  me  hope  you  have  read  Chalmers's  Sermons.  I 
can  at  present  read  little  else,  so  much  am  I  taken  with  the  rich- 
ness of  his  matter,  in  spite  of  one  of  the  worst  styles  that  ever 
matter  was  encumbered  with  on  this  side  of  chaos.  I  heartily 
wish  that  somebody  would  translate  him  into  French ;  his  argu- 
ments would  do  infinite  good  to  the  cause  of  Christianity  on  the 
continent,  and  his  beauties  are  precisely  of  the  kind  which  lose  no- 
thing by  transfusion  into  another  language,  and  which  would  be 
extremely  popidar  abroad.  When  I  go  to  Oxford  next  term,  I 
will  sound  Bertin  on  the  subject.  I  do  not  know  whether  he  is 
an  elegant  French  writer,  but  he  certainly  understands  English, 
which  not  many  of  his  countrymen  do  well  enough  to  translate 
from  it. 

"  I  do  hope  we  may  be  able  to  meet  somewhere  this  year  ; 
and  though  there  are  few  inducements  to  bring  you  so  far,  I  should 
like  to  show  you  my  new  house  and  goings-on.  Surely  in  these 
'  piping  times  of  peace,'  you  are  not  kept  in  the  midst  of  your 
well-mapped  apartment  so  closely,  as  when  the  Algerines  were  to 
be  brought  to  reason." 


"&' 


^  Mr.  Reginald  Heber  subsequently  undertook  himself  the  task  which  he  here  suggested. 
The  article  in  the  Quarterly  Review  for  April,  181  8,  on  "  A  Sketch  of  the  Military  and  Politi- 
cal Power  of  Russia,  in  1817,"  was  from  his  pen. 

2 


LETTER  TO  THE  REV.  J.  OXLEE.  487 


CHAP. 
XV. 
1817. 


To  the  Rev.  J.  Oxiee. 

Hodnet  Rectory,  Octoler  6,  1817. 
"  My  Dear  Sir, 

"  I  received  yesterday  a  letter  from  Mr.  GifFord, 
who  has  been  for  a  long  time  too  seriously  ill  to  attend  to  any 
business.  He  informs  me  that  the  first  sheets  of  the  article  on  my 
lectures  had  been  already  printed  off  for  the  next  number,  before 
your  offer  could  be  attended  to.  He  begs  me  to  express  his 
regret  that  he  has  been  deprived  of  the  power  of  availing  himself  of 
your  able  assistance  ;  and  desires  me  to  exert  my  influence  with  you 
to  obtain  your  help  on  some  future  occasion.  I  do  not  think  he  is 
strong  in  theological  labourers,  as  those  who  used  chiefly  to  con- 
tribute to  his  review,  in  tins  branch  of  criticism,  are  now  too  fully 
employed  in  their  own  pursuits  to  be  able  to  do  so  often ;  and  I 
really  conceive  that,  if  any  publication  should  appear  which  you 
may  think  a  proper  subject  for  your  pen,  you  may  be  able  in  this 
way  both  to  do  much  good,  and  add  to  your  own  literary  reputa- 
tion. It  is  fair  to  tell  you  beforehand,  that  GifFord  claims  the 
privilege,  and  exercises  it  with  very  little  ceremony,  of  either  re- 
jecting or  curtailing  the  articles  sent  to  him. 

"  I  now  come  to  a  much  less  interesting  subject, — I  mean 
Mr.  Nolan.  I  have  been  a  good  deal  sru'prised  to  hear  nothing  of 
his  second  letter,  but  have  certainly  no  wish  to  hurry  him,  or  to 
answer  the  first  till  he  has  entirely  finished  his  plea.  My  brother 
tells  me  the  former  has  been  but  little  known  or  noticed  in  London ; 
and  my  friends,  in  general,  appear  to  think  that  unless  the  second 
produces  more  effect,  it  will  not  be  advisable  to  answer  either.  I 
am  to  go  to  Oxford  early  in  term,  where  I  shall  be  better  able  to 
judge,  and  will  lose  no  time  in  apprising  you  of  my  intentions. 

"  I  am  afraid  that  you  are  perfectly  right  in  ascribing  a  less 


488  LETTER  TO  R.  J.  WILMOT,  ESQ. 


ciiAi'.     degree  of  Hebrew  knowledge  to  the  Fathers  than  I  did  m  my 
i«i7      reply ;  their  pretensions  are  not  of  a  kind  to  bear  sifting. 

"  Believe  me,  dear  Sir, 

"  Ever  truly  your's, 

"  Reginald  Heber." 

To  R.  J.  Wilmot,  Esq. 

Hodnet  Rectorij,  Dec.  13,  1817. 
"  Thank  you  very  much  for  your  interesting  particulars  re- 
specting the  imperial  family,  which  have  enabled  me  to  lay  down 
the  law  on  Russian  politics  in  great  style  in  several  places.  I  had 
heard  before  so  many  facts  as  to  the  emperor's  piety,  that  I  had 
been  by  degrees  constrained  to  think  it  unaffected,  though  it  cer- 
tainly did  not  tally  with  the  general  course  of  his  life  when  I  was 
in  Russia. 

^ff  t|c  ^P  *i» 

"  As  to  the  younger  Grand  Dukes  being  on  fire  for  military 
glory,  it  is  so  common,  I  might  say,  so  universal  a  fever  in  lads  of 
eighteen  or  twenty,  that  we  can  lay  no  stress  on  it.  This  feeling, 
however,  on  their  parts,  from  whatever  cause  it  springs,  is,  beyond 
all  doubt,  an  additional  reason  for  wishing  long  life  to  Alexander. 

"  The  oriental  scholar  whose  learning  and  modesty  I  praised, 
is  a  Mr.  Lee  of  Cambridge,  who,  from  the  situation  of  a  journey- 
man carpenter  in  Shropshire,  has,  by  his  own  application  and  talent, 
and,  in  some  small  measure,  by  the  patronage  of  Archdeacon  Corbet, 
raised  himself  to  a  great  degree  of  deserved  celebrity.  His  dis- 
covery relative  to  the  Coptic  is,  that  that  language  is  radically  the 
same  with  the  Malayan. 

"  Beheve  me  your  obliged  friend, 

"  Reginald  Heber." 

'  Arabic  professor  in  Cambridge. — Ed. 


TiTHUS  FEVER  AT  HOD  NET.  489 


To  E.  D.  Davenport,  Esq. 

Hodnet  Rectory,  March  23,  1818. 
"  My  Dear  Davenport, 

"  Your  offer  to  receive  into  your  house  such  unwel- 
come guests  as  a  family  flying  from  contagion,  is  perfectly  like 
yourself,  and  calls  for  our  best  thanks.  The  fear  of  a  typhus  fever, 
fortunately,  is  gone  by ;  but  we  should  have  been  still  happy  to 
accept  your  kind  invitation,  had  not  the  Killmoreys  already  taken 
off  our  hands  the  friends  whom  we  hoped  you  would  have  met 
here,  and  engaged  us  to  meet  them.  Our  house  is  still  a  sickly 
one,  though,  in  point  of  direct  '  contumace,'  we  have  a  '  clean  bill.' 
The  housekeeper,  who  was  the  first  attacked,  is  still  hardly  able  to 
speak  or  stir  from  the  effects  of  qviinsey.       *  *  *  * 

The  apothecary,  at  least,  has  derived  from  hence  no  small  ad- 
vantage ;  and  the  housekeejier  is  so  well  drenched  with  old  port, 
that  she  has  no  great  inducement  to  recover  her  health  speedily. 
I  am  encom-aged,  however,  to  hope  that  she  will  be  quite  well 
enough  before  next  Monday  to  cook  for  yourself,  Wilmot,  and  the 
Dean  of  St.  Asaph,  who  will  then  come  to  us,  and  whom  I  should 
like  you  much  to  meet.  Emily,  though  a  httle  flurried  by  what 
has  passed  in  the  house,  is  going  on  as  well  as  can  be  desired.  I 
am  to  take  her  to  Chester  the  second  or  third  week  in  April,  and 
we  have  written  to  engage  a  house  there.  Our  parsonage,  during 
our  absence,  is  to  be  painted  and  smartened  up,  so  as  to  make  a 
favourable  fu*st  impression  on  the  little  stranger  whom  we  hope  to 
bring  back  with  us." 


To 


"  Your  last  letter  awakened  so  very  blended  sensations,  and 
I  so  much  distrusted  my  powers  of  comforting,  that  I  deferred 
writing  purposely,  till  I  had  reason  to  believe  my  letter  would  not 

VOL.  I.  3  R 


CHAP. 
XV. 
1818. 


490  ANECDOTE  OF  A  NATIVE  OF  NEW  ZEALAND. 

CHAP  rather  wound  than  soothe  you.  Trust  me,  I  have  greatly  lamented 
1818  the  severe  trial  to  which  both  yourself  and have  been  ex- 
posed, though  the  manly  tenderness  and  firmness  of  your  letters 
were  sufficient  to  prove  that  you  are  both  fully  eqvial  to  sustain 
your  share  of  the  sorrows  to  which,  in  different  ways,  we  all  must 
be  liable,  and  which,  I  fully  believe,  and  it  is  a  belief  without 
which  I  could  not  be  happy,  are  as  truly  designed  for  our  improve- 
ment and  advantage,  as  the  physic  we  give  to  a  sick  man. 

*  ^  *  ^  *  n^  * 

»'it  ait  s|£  ik  sfe  sic, 

TF  •P  •!•  •F  •?•  n» 

******* 

"  That  your  little  group  of  treasures  may  be  long  so  pre- 
served to  your  still  increasing  happiness,  is  my  earnest  and  con- 
stant hope.  For  the  poor  little  one  whom  you  have  lost,  as  she 
herself  has  greatly  gained  by  leaving  the  world,  it  is  needless  to 
suggest  any  comfort. 

"  Believe  me,  my  dear  friend, 

"  Very  truly  your's, 

"  Reginald  Heber." 


To  R.  J.  Wilmot,  Esq. 

Chester,  Jul  1/ SI,  1818. 
"  During  the  few  days  I  was  in  Shropshire,  I  heard  a  good 
deal  of  two  New  Zealand  warriors,  who  have  been  brought  over 
by  a  missionary  society,  and  are  staying  with  a  clergyman  in 
Shropshire.  I  was  amused  with  one  story  which  I  was  told  of 
the  youngest.  Some  roasted  rabbits  were  at  table  which  he  sup- 
posed to  be  cats.  On  being  asked  whether  New  Zealanders  eat 
cats,  he  answered  '  New  Zealander  eatee  hog,  him  eatee  dog,  him 
eatee  rat,  him  eatee  creeper,'  (biting  his  own  ann  like  a  dog  in 
search  of  a  flea)  '  him  eatee  warrior  and  old  woman,  but  him  no 
eatee  puss  !'     Yet  this  eater  of  warriors  and  old  women  is  said  to 


BIRTH  OF  MR.  REGINALD  HEBER'S  FIRST  CHILD.  491 

be  very  docile  to  his  spiritual  pastors,  and  to  have  made  no  con-    ^^y^- 
temptible  progress  in  whatever  they  have  taught  him."  '"'" 

To  Jolin  Thornton,  Esq. 

Hodnet  Rectory,  September  8,  1818. 

"  *  *  We   left  Chester  five  weeks  since, 

heartily  tired  with  our  sojourn  there,  though,  I  hope,  with  feelings 
of  sincere  thankfulness  for  the  blessing  wliich  we  had  received. 
I  believe  I  wrote  you  word  that  our  little  Barbara  was,  in  the  first 
instance,  a  very  healthy  child ;  diuring  the  hot  weather,  however, 
of  the  latter  end  of  July,  she  had  so  violent  an  illness  as  to  leave, 
for  some  days,  hardly  the  most  remote  hope  of  her  life.  Thank 
God  !  she  Avrestled  through  it  surpiizingly,  but  it  left  her  a  skele- 
ton ; — since  that  time  her  progress  has  been  very  rapid,  and  as 
favourable  as  we  could  hope  or  desire,  and  she  is  really  now  such 
a  baby  as  parents  exult  to  show. 

"  The  harvest  here,  as  elsewhere,  has  been  a  blessed  one,  not 
indeed  in  the  weight  of  the  crops,  wliich  have  been,  uniformly, 
through  this  county,  light ;  but  in  the  goodness  of  the  grain,  and 
the  condition  in  which  all,  or  nearly  all,  the  winter  corn  has  been 
got  in. 

"  Has  your  attention  ever  been  recalled  to  the  subject  which 
we  discussed  when  we  last  met  ? — a  union  between  the  two  Church 
Missionary  societies.        ***** 


"  I  have  never  lived  very  much  with  men  of  my  own 
profession,  but  I  have  seen  more  of  them  during  my  stay  in 
Chester  than  has  usually  happened  to  me,  and  I  found  reason  to 
beheve  that  many  clergymen  would  give  their  zealous  assistance 

3  R  2 


492  UNION  OF  THE  TWO  CHURCH  MISSIONARY  SOCIETIES. 


CHAP,  to  a  united  body,  who  now  hang  back  for  fear  of  committing  them- 
1818.  selves,  &c.  &c.  But  one  of  my  strongest  reasons  for  desiring  such 
""""^  a  union  is,  that  it  would  prevent  that  hateful  spirit  of  party  (which, 
at  present,  unhappily  divides,  and  will,  I  fear,  continue  to  divide 
the  Church)  from  operating,  as  it  now  does,  to  the  prejudice  of 
that  common  object  which  both  sides  profess  to  have  in  view, — 
the  conversion  of  the  heathen." 


To  the  Bishop  of 


Hodnet  Rectory,  Oct.  12,  1818. 
"  My  Lord, 

"  May  I  hope  yom-  Lordship  will  pardon  the  liberty 
thus  taken  by  a  stranger,  who  would  not  have  ventured  to  trespass 
on  your  valuable  time,  if  it  were  not  on  a  subject  which  he  con- 
ceives important  to  the  peace  of  the  Church  and  the  propagation 
of  the  Gospel  among  the  heathen. 

"  Of  the  two  societies  established  for  that  purpose  in  our 
Church,  I  have  been  induced  to  join  that  which  is  peculiarly 
sanctioned  by  your  Lordship's  name,  as,  apparently,  most  active, 
and  as  employing  with  more  wisdom  than  the  elder  corporation, 
those  powerful  means  of  obtaining  popular  support,  which  igno- 
rance only  can  depreciate  or  condemn.  It  is  but  justice  to  say 
that  I  have  seen  nothing  which  leads  me  to  repent  of  this  choice. 
But  why,  my  Lord,  (may  I  be  permitted  to  ask)  should  there  be 
two  societies  for  the  same  precise  object  ?  Would  it  not  be  pos- 
sible and  advantageous  to  unite  them  both  into  one  great  body, 
under  the  same  rules  and  the  same  administration,  which  might 
embrace  all  the  different  departments  in  which  zeal  for  the  mis- 
sionary cause  may  be  advantageous  ?  In  other  words  ;  since  the 
charter  of  the  Society  for  Propagating  the  Gospel  in  Foreign  Parts, 
forbids  their  joining  us,  why  might  not  we,  as  a  body,  make  an 
offer  to  transfer  our  subscriptions,  our  funds,  and  our  missionary 
establishments  to  them,  on  such  conditions  as  might  secure  our 
missions  from  neglect,   and  our  money  from  misapplication,   sup- 


UNION  OF  THE  TWO  CHURCH  MISSIONARY  SOCIETIES.  493 

posing  such  neglect  or  misapplication  to  be  likely  or  possible  ?  The  chap. 
advantages  of  such  a  union  would,  I  himibly  conceive,  be  great.  '"'^- 
It  might  go  very  far  towards  healing  the  breach  which  unhappily 
exists  in  our  establishment.  It  would  be  the  most  efficacious 
answer  which  could  be  given  to  those  imputations  of  a  party  and 
sectarian  spirit,  which,  either  from  prejudice  or  misinformation, 
have  been  brought  against  the  Church  Missionary  Society ;  and 
1  ai:>prehend  that  the  efforts  of  Churchmen  in  one  accordant 
society,  would  be  more  efficacious  in  the  good  cause,  than,  under 
present  circumstances,  they  are  likely  to  be. 

"  It  must,  doubtless,  have  occurred  to  your  Lordship,  that 
supposing  the  two  societies  to  proceed,  as  I  could  wish  them  to 
do,  with  mutual  good  will,  yet  still,  two  societies  under  separate 
management,  may  often  be  expected  to  clash  in  their  plans  of  doing 
good.  Missionaries  may  be  sent  so  as  to  interfere  with  each  other's 
labours ;  or,  for  fear  of  such  interference,  advantageous  openings 
may  be  neglected  ;  nor  is  it  possible,  I  conceive,  for  so  much  good 
to  be  done  separately  as  might  be  effected  in  one  regular  and 
systematic  course  of  proceeding.  But  if,  as  there  is  too  much 
reason  to  apprehend,  the  spirit  of  rivalry  should  be  excited  between 
them,  it  is  plain  how  surely  that  will  conduct  the  advocates  of 
each  to  a  depreciation  of  the  zeal,  or  orthodoxy,  or  success  of  the 
other ;  how  hardly  we  shall  be  tempted  to  judge  of  each  other's 
motives  ;  and  how  unedifying  a  spectacle  may  be  presented  to  the 
laity  and  the  heathen,  of  missionaries  contesting  the  validity  of 
each  other's  appointments  ;  preachers  extolled  or  censured  accord- 
ing to  the  societies  which  they  have  joined ;  subscriptions  can- 
vassed for  by  one  side  from  a  fear  lest  the  other  should  obtain 
them ;  and  another  bone  of  contention  added  to  the  many  which 
at  present  disturb  the  private  repose,  or  lessen  the  public  utihty 
of  clergymen. 

"  I  know  it  has  been  thought  that  such  rivalry  is  of  service  to 
the  common  cause  of  religion,  by  bringing  forward,  on  one  side 
or  the  other,  those  contributors,  who,  though  with  little  genuine 


494  UNION  OF  THE  TWO  CHURCH  MISSIONARY  SOCIETIES. 

CHAP,     zeal  for  Christianity,  are  yet  induced,  '  out  of  envy  and  strife,'  to 
1818.      be  forward  in  its  service.     But  surely,  no  additional  stimulus  of 
"''  this  kind  is  necessary,  beyond  that  which  may  be  obtained  by 

setting  before  the  public  eye  the  great  exertions  of  dissenting  mis- 
sionaries, and  the  danger  which  exists  lest  India  and  Polynesia, 
as  well  as  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope,  be  abandoned,  by  our  supine- 
ness,  to  those  whom  we  affect  to  despise  as  ignorant  enthusiasts. 
But,  on  the  other  hand,  I  need  not  remind  your  Lordship,  that, 
though  God  may  turn  the  perverseness  of  men  to  His  praise,  it  is 
no  less  our  duty  to  avoid  whatever  has  a  tendency  to  cause  sin, 
either  in  ourselves  or  others ;  and  that  the  evils  of  faction  are 
such  as  greatly  to  counterbalance  the  incidental  good  which  may 
arise  from  it.  Siu:ely,  then,  we  are  bound,  both  in  prudence  and 
charity,  to  remove,  if  possible,  whatever  has,  however  unjustly, 
given  offence ;  and,  at  least,  to  make  the  offer  of  marching  in  the 
same  ranks  and  adopting  the  same  insignia  with  those  who,  though 
engaged  in  the  same  cause,  will  hardly,  without  these  preliminaries, 
admit  us  to  the  name  of  allies. 

"  It  would  ill  become  me  to  conceal  from  your  Lordship  the 
objections  which  have  been  urged  against  my  project.  They  are 
such,  however,  as  I  cannot  think  invincible. 

"  1st.  It  has  been  said  that  '  by  merging  our  own  society  in 
that  for  the  Propagation  of  the  Gospel  in  Foreign  Parts,  we  should 
give  up  to  them  all  the  credit  of  our  exertions  during  the  many 
years  in  which  they  were  comparatively  inactive,  and  that  many  of 
our  supporters  would  be  thus  induced  to  Mathdraw.' — But  for  this 
apprehended  loss  of  renown,  a  remedy  will,  I  conceive,  present 
itself  in  the  necessary  publicity  of  the  measure  which  I  recom- 
mend, and  in  the  eclat  which  attends  every  sacrifice  of  individual 
feeling  or  vanity  to  a  cause  so  glorious  as  that  in  which  we  are 
engaged.  The  simplest  statement  of  the  missions  which  we  have 
formed,  and  the  sums  which  we  have  raised,  will  be  sufficient  to 
procure  us  our  due  share  of  earthly  glory.  But,  I  confess,  I  have 
little  patience  with  objectors,  so  apparently  actuated  by  human 


UNION  OF  THE  TWO  CHURCH  MISSIONARY  SOCIETIES.  495 

motives   in  the  aid  which  tliey  have  furnished  to  the  cause  of    chap. 
Christianity,  and  cannot  conceive  their  number  to  be  very  great  in      '»'»■ 
a  society  formed  hke  our's. 

"  2dly.  It  has  been  said  that '  many  of  our  zealous  supporters 
have  no  confidence  in  the  zeal  or  judgement  of  those  persons  who 
conduct  the  affairs  of  the  elder  corporation,  and  would,  therefore, 
not  consent  to  the  ti-ansfer  of  their  svibscriptions  to  such  hands.' 
What  precise  ground  there  may  be  for  such  an  objection  I  cannot 
say.  I  have  endeavoured  to  provide  against  such  a  want  of  confidence 
in  the  scheme  wliich  I  shall  have  the  honour  to  state  to  your  Lord- 
ship. In  general  it  may  be  observed  that  nothing  is  so  likely  to 
raise  the  character  of  the  old  institution  as  a  fresh  infusion  of  zeal 
by  the  accession  of  our  friends  ;  and  that,  by  our  activity  and  num- 
bers, we  may  hope,  in  case  of  a  union,  to  obtain  a  very  decided  in- 
fluence in  the  administration  of  the  joint  establishment.  But,  so 
far  as  my  own  enquiries  have  extended,  I  can  assure  your  Lordship 
that  1  have  not  been  able  to  discover  this  supposed  indisposition 
to  union  on  the  part  of  our  members.  I  communicated  my  scheme 
to  many  clergymen  whom  I  recently  met  at  the  meeting  of  our 
Auxiliary  Society  at  Shrewsbury,  and  found  them  so  far  from  ex- 
pressing any  repugnance  to  the  measure,  that  it  is  by  their  appro- 
bation that  I  have  been  chiefly  encouraged  to  address  these 
suggestions  to  your  Lordship  ;  nor  can  I  doubt  that,  if  they  should 
be  so  fortunate  as  to  obtain  in  your  Lordship  a  patron  and  advo- 
cate, yom-  name  and  talents  would  reconcile  many  to  their  adop- 
tion, who  would  have  hardly  given  them  a  moment's  consideration, 
as  the  plan  of  so  obscure  an  individual  as  myself 

"  3dly.  I  have  been  told  that  '  our  society  cannot  lawfully 
commit  the  management  of  the  legacies  and  benefactions  entrusted 
to  their  care  to  any  other  public  body.' 

"  I  conceive  this  to  be  a  mistake,  and  that  the  governors  of 
our  society  may,  with  the  consent  of  the  majority  of  its  members, 
apply  its  funds  in  any  manner  which  may  tend  to  the  furtherance  of 
the  object  for  which  those  funds  yere  destined.  The  Society  for 
the  Propagation  of  the  Gospel  have  placed  £5000  at  the  disposal 


496  UNION  OF  THE  TWO  CHURCH  MISSIONARY  SOCIETIES. 

cHy\p.  of  the  Bishop  of  Calcutta '.  Why,  if  they  can  do  this,  may  not  we 
1818.  lawfully  place  any  sum  of  which  we  are  in  possession  at  the  dis- 
posal of  that  society  ?  But,  lastly,  it  is  said,  that  '  even  if  such  a 
union  were  proposed  on  our  part  to  the  society  in  question,  they 
would  not  accede  to  it.'  Be  it  so.  Yet,  if  the  offer  is  made  by 
us,  and  refused  by  them,  I  need  not  point  out  to  your  Lordship 
how  completely  we  shall  thus  have  placed  ourselves  in  the  right, 
and  them  in  the  wrong ;  how  evidently  we  shall  have  proved  that 
we  neither  desire  separation,  nor  court  any  invidious  distinction ; 
and  that  whatever  ojjposition  the  party  might  make  to  our  society, 
was  merely  personal  and  factious.  But  I  would  willingly  hope, 
that  men,  who  are  always  inculcating  the  benefits  of  Church  union, 
of  a  common  treasury  for  our  alms,  a  common  direction  for  our 
benevolent  exertions,  would  not  be  sorry  to  receive  so  decided  a 
pledge  of  our  seeking  only  the  same  objects  with  themselves ;  and 
that  the  magnitude  of  the  aid  which  we  should  be  able  to  tender, 
would  overpower,  in  the  minds  of  the  great  and  honest  majority, 
the  clamours  which  might  be  raised  by  a  few  suspicious  and  ill- 
tempered  individuals.  And  I  cannot  but  conceive  the  present 
time  peculiarly  favourable  for  such  an  offer,  when,  if  I  am  correctly 
informed,  your  Lordship  is  actually  engaged,  together  with  other 
prelates,  in  the  digestion  of  a  plan  for  extending  the  power,  and 
reviving  the  activity  of  the  Society  for  the  Propagation  of  the  Gos- 
pel. With  these  feelings,  I  venture  to  submit,  with  much  real 
diffidence,  the  accompanying  plan  to  your  Lordship's  considera- 
tion, requesting  that,  if  it  meets  with  your  approbation,  you  will 
be  pleased  to  appear  as  the  advocate  of  a  scheme  which,  coming 
from  you,  must,  I  think,  command  the  attention  of  both  societies. 
If,  by  my  pen,  or  any  other  means,  your  Lordship  thinks  I  may  be 
useful  in  carrying  it  into  effect,  I  need  hardly  add,  that  it  will  be 
my  pride  and  pleasure  to  obey  your  orders. 

"  I  have  now  only  to  renew  my  request  of  your  Lordship's 
indulgence  for  the  imperfections  of  my  scheme,  and  the  liberty 
which  I  have  taken  in  addressing  you ;  a  liberty,  however,  which 

'  The  Right  Reverend  Thomas  F.  Middleton,  D.D. 


UNION  OF  THE  TWO  CHURCH  MISSIONARY  SOCIETIES.  497 

has  been  prompted  by  my  high  respect  for  your  character,  as  well    ^^ap- 
as  the  importance  of  the  subject  on  which  I  have  written.  '^'^- 

"  I  am  sensible  how  little  weight  my  name  can  add  to  any 
argument  which  I  have  been  able  to  offer ;  and  should,  perhaps, 
have  preferred  addiessing  you  in  an  anonymous  form,  if  it  were 
not  that  I  dislike  unnecessary  concealment  of  every  kind,  and  thkt 
I  trust  I  may,  at  least,  guard  my  proposal  from  the  suspicion  of 
improper  motives,  or  intentional  disrespect,  when  I  sign  myself, 

"  My  Lord, 

"  Your  Lordship's  obedient  humble  servant, 

"  Reginald  Heber." 

"  It  is  respectftdly  suggested  to  the  members  of  the  Church 
Missionary  Society,  that  it  is  expedient  that  the  said  society  should 
make  the  offer  of  uniting  themselves  with  the  Incorporated  So- 
ciety for  Propagating  Clu-istianity  in  Foreign  Parts,  on  the  following 
conditions : 

"  1st.  That  the  Society  for  Propagating  the  Gospel  do  ad- 
mit as  members  all  those  who  are  now  members  of  the  Church 
Missionary  Society,  either  on  the  presumption  of  their  being  church- 
men, which  the  fact  of  their  belonging  to  such  a  society  warrants  ; 
or,  if  a  flu-ther  guarantee  be  thought  necessary  in  the  case  of  the 
lay-members,  on  the  recommendation  of  some  of  the  clerical  mem- 
bers of  the  said  Society  for  Church  Missions. 

"  2dly.  That,  in  consideration  of  the  increase  of  numbers, 
one  joint-treasm-er  and  three  additional  secretaries  be  appointed 
by  the  Society  for  the  Propagation  of  the  Gospel ;  and  that  the 
same  gentlemen  who  now  hold  those  offices  in  the  Church  Mis- 
sionary Society,  be  requested  to  accept  of  the  treasurership  and  two 
of  the  said  secretaryships. 

"  3dly.  That  District  Societies,  either  county,  diocesan,  or 
archidiaconal,  be  instituted,  \^^th  powers  to  recommend  new  mem- 
bers; to  raise  and  receive  subscriptions;  appoint  clergymen  to 
VOL.  I.  3    s 


498  CHANGES  IN  OXFORD. 

CHAP,  preach  for  the  society,  &c.,  on  the  plan  now  adopted  by  the  Society 
'"i«-      for  Promoting  Christian  Knowledge. 

"  4thly.  That  all  the  missionaries,  schoolmasters,  &c.  now 
employed  by  the  Church  Missionary  Society,  shall  be  immediately 
taken  into  the  employ  of  the  Society  for  Propagating  the  Gospel, 
and  not  dismissed  miless  in  case  of  bad  behaviour,  but  treated,  in 
all  respects,  in  the  same  manner  with  those  which  the  last-named 
society  at  present  supports. 

"  5thly.  That,  these  conditions  being  agreed  to,  the  Church 
Missionary  Society  will  transfer  to  the  Society  for  Propagating 
the  Gospel  their  subscriptions,  their  stock,  the  services  of  their 
missionaries,  their  experience  and  local  knowledge,  and  zealously 
co-operate  with  them  in  the  support  of  their  society,  and  the 
orthodox  and  orderly  furtherance  of  then-  benevolent  and  Chris- 
tian views." 


To  E.  D.  Daven^Jort,  Esq. 

Hodnet Rectory,  Nov.27,  1818, 
"  My  Dear  Davenport, 

"     *  *  *  *     I  have  myself  been 

at  home  entirely,  ^\ath  the  exception  of  a  week's  visit  to  Oxford, 
where  I  found  sundry  contemporaries  grown  bald  and  grave,  and 
met  sundry  children  of  my  friends  in  the  country  shot  up  into 
dashing  young  men.  That  same  place  always  presents  a  ciurious 
gerometer  to  people  who  have  long  since  ceased  to  be  resident ; 
but  I  do  not  know  that  I  ever  felt  it  so  much  before.  In  some 
respects,  it  is  whimsically  altered  from  what  I  remember  it,  though, 
of  course,  the  whole  outward  show  proceeds  with  less  visible  altera- 
tion than  the  library  of  Goethe's  grandfather,  described  in  his  Me- 
moirs, where  every  thing  was  so  old,  and  in  such  good  order,  that 
it  seemed  as  if  time  had  stood  still,  or  as  if  the  watch  of  society 
had  been  put  back  for  a  century.  But  in  Oxford,  notwithstanding 
this  outward  monotony,  there  are  certam  changes  which  an  ob- 
server less  keen  than  yourself  would  not  fail  to  discover. 


CHANGES  IN  OXFORD.  499 

"  First,  when  we  remember  Christ  Church,  it  was  an  absolute    chap. 

XV. 

monarchy  of  the  most  ultra-oriental  character;  whereas  the  reign-  '^'s- 
ing  clean '  is  as  little  attended  to,  to  all  appearance,  as  the  peishwah 
of  the  Mahrattas ;  the  whole  government  resting  on  an  oligarchy 
of  tutor,  under  whom,  I  think,  the  college  flourishes,  at  least  as 
much  as  under  the  cloud-compelling  wig  of  the  venerable  Cyril. 
My  own  old  college  is  less  altered  in  this  respect ;  but  the  tutors 
there,  as  elsewhere  in  the  university,  are  so  different  a  race  from 
the  fonner  stock,  as  to  occasion  a  very  ludicrous  comparison.  The 
old  boys  never  stirred  from  home ;  these  pass  their  whole  vacations 
on  the  continent,  are  geologists,  system-mongers,  and  I  know  not 
what.  It  is  possible  that,  when  we  were  lads,  we  rather  under- 
rated the  generality  of  those  set  over  us  ;  but  I  cannot  help 
thinking  that  this  race  of  beings  is,  on  the  whole,  considerably 
amended. 

"  Of  the  young  men,  I  do  not  know  that  I  can  say  much.  The 
general  story  is,  that  they  were  never  so  diligent  and  so  orderly  as 
at  present ;  all  which  is  put  down  to  the  account  of  the  system  of 
examination.  There  is  really,  I  think,  much  less  lounging  than 
formerly,  which  is  produced,  of  course,  by  the  greater  frequency 
and  regularity  of  lectures  ;  but  hunting  seems  practised  to  a  de- 
gree considerably  beyond  our  times  ;  and  so  far  as  I  can  learn,  in 
general  they  worship  the  same  divinities  who  are  enumerated  in  the 
Herodotan  account  of  the  university. 

Atovvffov  Kai  AprrpSa  Kai  A^poSirrjv,  ivioi  Se  <j>a<n  on  /cai  rov  'Epjujjv. 

"  If  Bacchus  is  somewhat  less  honoured,  (of  which,  from  cer- 
tain sounds  which  reached  my  ears  during  a  nightly  walk,  I  have 
some  doubt,)  the  general  change  of  manners,  in  this  respect,  has 
probably  had  as  much  efficacy  as  any  strictness  of  discipline. 

"  You  will  be  glad  to  hear  a  good  account  of  my  wife  and 
baby,  though  the  latter  is  beginning  the  tedious  and  painful  pro- 

'  The  late  Very  Reverend  C.  H.  Hall,  afterwards  Dean  of  Durham. 

3  s  2 


500  DEATH  OF  MR.  REGINALD  HEBER'S  CHILD. 


CHAP,  cess  of  cutting  teeth,  as  nurses  say,  though,  judging  from  appear- 
1818-  ances,  the  best  expression  is  being  cut  by  them.  Emily  has  been 
a  good  deal  grieved  and  agitated  by  the  death  of  Lady  Killmorey, 
who  is  a  most  serious  loss  to  all  her  friends  and  relations.  I 
never  knew  any  body,  not  the  mother  of  a  family,  who  is  Hkely  to 
be  so  much  missed. 

To  John  27iornton,  Esq. 

December  25,  1818. 
"  God  has  been  pleased  to  afflict  us  in  the  point 
where  we  were  most  sensible  of  affliction,  and  least  prepared  to 
expect  it,  in  the  death  of  our  httle  daughter,  which  took  place 
yesterday  morning,  after  a  severe  illness  of  several  days,  and  one 
night  passed  in  strong  convulsions.  She  had  been  not  perfectly 
well  for  the  last  month,  which  was  attributed  to  her  teeth  coming ; 
but  I  now  apprehend  that  water  had  been  forming  in  her  head 
during  that  time ;  this  was  the  cause  of  her  death.  Emily  has 
borne  her  loss  with  as  much  tranquillity  as  I  could  expect ;  she  has 
received  the  Sacrament  from  my  hands  this  morning,  and  is,  I 
believe,  fully  resigned,  and  sensible  of  God's  abundant  mercy,  even 
when  His  afflictions  fall  heaviest.  I  am  myself  more  cut  down 
than  I  thought  I  should,  but  I  hope  not  impatient ;  though  I  cannot 
help  thinking  that  whatever  other  children  I  may  be  blessed  with,  I 
shall  never  love  any  like  this  little  one,  given  me  after  so  many  years' 
expectation,  and  who  promised  in  personal  advantages  and  intelli- 
gence to  be  even  more  than  a  parent  ordinarily  hopes  for.  But  I 
do  not  forget  that  to  have  possessed  her  at  all,  and  to  have  enjoyed 
the  pleasure  of  looking  at  her  and  caressing  her  for  six  months, 
was  God's  free  gift,  and  still  less  do  I  forget  that  He  who  has 
taken  her  will,  at  length,  I  hope,  restore  her  to  us.  God  bless 
you  in  your  wife  and  cliildren,  my  dear  Thornton,  as  well  as  with 
all  other  mercies,  is  the  sincere  prayer  of 

"  Your  affectionate  friend, 

"  Reginald  Heber." 


CHAPTER   XVI. 


Lines  by  Dr.  Turner — Fragment  of  a  poem  on  the  same  subject  with  Mojitgomenfs 
"  World  before  the  Flood"— BristefTs  "  America"—"  Hie  outward-bound  Ship" 
"  Tlie  Ground  Sweir— Lines  to  C.  H.  Townshend  "  On  Hope"— Ordination 
sermon — Letter  to  the  editor  of  the  Christian  Remembrancer. 


The  afflicting  event  mentioned  in  the  last  letter,  happened  at  chap. 
Catton,  in  Staffordshire,  the  seat  of  the  late  Eusebius  Horton,  Esq.  isig.' 
The  following  prayer  written  after  his  return  home,  on  the  9th  of 
January,  in  the  ensuing  year,  appears  among  Mr.  Reginald  Heber's 
memoranda.  "  Miserere  nostrum,  Deus  !  Luge7itis  orbceque  matris 
audi  preces ;  tuique  (quod  omnium  est  optimum)  da  Spiritus  sola- 
tium per  Jesum  Christum,  Dominum  nostrum.     Amen." 

The  loss  of  their  only  child  was  long  and  severely  felt  by  her 
parents ;  her  father  could  never  think  of  or  name  her  without 
tears  ;  and  his  private  devotions  generally  concluded  with  an 
earnest  prayer  that  he  might,  at  his  last  hour,  be  found  worthy  to 
rejoin  his  sinless  child.  And  who  shall  doubt  that  his  prayer  has 
been  accepted ! 

In  the  hymn  commencing  "  Thou  art  gone  to  the  grave," 
may  be  traced  the  feelings  which  this  bereavement  occasioned '. 

•  Soon  after  the  editor's  return  from  India,  the  following  stanzas  were  given  her  by  a 
friend,  who  only  knew  that  they  were  written  by  a  clergyman  in  Cheshire.  It  is  a  satisfaction 
to  her  to  have  learnt,  that  these  lines,  so  expressive  of  the  feeling  with  which  their  author  heard 
of  the  loss  the  Eastern  Church  had  sustained,  were  written  by  Dr.  Turner,  who  has  himself  been 


502  LINES  BY  DR.  TURNER. 

CHAP.  About  this  time  Mr.  Reeinakl  Heber  dismissed  one  of  his 

XVI. 

'sia-  servants  for  drunkenness,  after  many  trials  and  broken  promises  of 
amendment.  In  his  diary  on  this  occasion  the  following  passage 
occvu's :  "  O  qui  me  aliorum  judicem  peccatorum  et  vindicem  fecisti 
Deus,  miserere  mei  peccatoris,  et  libera  me  ah  omni  peccato  per 
Jesum  Christum  Dominum  nostrum.     Amen." 


To  the  Lady  Isabella  King. 

Hodnet  Rectory,  March  17,  1819. 

"  Dear  Madam, 

"  Owing  to  my  absence  from  home  I  did  not  receive 
the  honour  of  your  Ladyship's  former  letter  till  some  days  after  its 
arrival  at  Hodnet,  and  I  felt  so  much  vexed  at  the  delay  which 
had  taken  place  in  the  fulfilment  of  my  engagement  (though  I  can 
assure  you  that  this  delay  has  chiefly  arisen  from  causes  over 
which  I  had  no  controul),  that  I  determined  not  to  answer  it  till  I 
should  have  sent  off  to  Mr.  Giffbrd  an  article  on  the  subject  of  the 
Bailbrook  House  establishment.  At  this  I  had,  in  fact,  been 
working,  as  fast  as  my  few  leisure  hours  allowed  me,  when  I  re- 
ceived your  last  letter  announcing  that  Mr.  Sovithey  had  under- 
taken it.  I  will  not  dissemble  the  pleasure  which  this  circum- 
stance has  given  me,  because  I  am  quite  convinced,  without  any 
mock  modesty  on  my  part,  that  he  is  precisely  the  writer  in  the 
world  best  qualified  to  do  justice  to  the  subject,  and  to  recommend 
(both  by  his  eloquence  and  his  sense  of  the  political  importance  of 

called  to  the  same  scene  of  Christian  labour  ;  with  a  similar  spirit  of  self-devotion,  and  a  similar 
readiness  to  labour  in  the  service  of  his  Lord. 

Thou  art  gone  to  the  grave  !  and  while  nations  bemoan  thee 
Who  drank  from  thy  lips  the  glad  tidings  of  peace  ; 
Yet  grateful,  they  still  in  their  heart  shall  enthrone  thee, 
And  ne'er  shall  thy  name  from  their  memory  cease. 

Thou  art  gone  to  the  grave !  but  thy  work  shall  not  perish, 
That  work  which  the  Spirit  of  wisdom  hath  blest  ; 
His  might  shall  support  it,  His  mercy  shall  cherish, 
His  love  make  it  prosper,  tho'  thou  art  at  rest. 
7 


LETTER  TO  THE  REV.  T.  E.  S.  HORNBY.  503 


the  subject)  the  institution  to  the  world.  I  will  also  confess,  that,  <^i?'>p- 
though  I  can  assure  you  I  have  often,  very  often,  attempted  to  's'"- 
embody  my  ideas  into  such  a  form  as  might  be  fit  for  a  re\new,  I 
have  felt  so  much  difficulty  in  the  task,  that  I  am  not  sorry  to  be 
released  from  it.  I  beheve  this  difficulty  arose  from  the  obvious 
utihty  of  the  establishment  itself,  which  gave  me  no  objections  to 
combat,  and  from  the  good  sense  and  propriety  of  the  rules  which 
your  Ladyship  has  framed,  which  really  left  me  no  objections  to 
make.  I  endeavoured  to  supply  the  want  of  these,  the  most  usual 
materials  for  a  critic's  task,  by  entering  into  a  history  of  the  diffijr- 
ent  establishments  on  the  continent,  destined  in  like  manner  to 
the  support  and  comfort  of  females  of  the  higher  class ;  but  here, 
unfortunately,  I  found  much  cUfficulty  in  obtaining  information. 
In  short,  I  have  been  twenty  times  over  on  the  point  of  writing  to 
your  Ladyship,  to  give  up  my  engagement,  had  not  my  real 
anxiety  to  promote  so  good  a  cause  rendered  me  very  unwilling  to 
do  so.  I  shall  write  by  this  day's  post  to  Mr.  Giffiard,  who,  as  he 
expects  an  article  from  me  on  the  subject,  would,  possibly,  have 
been  otherArise  surprised  at  receiving  one  from  Mr.  Southey  '.  For 
myself  I  have  only  to  thank  you  most  sincerely  for  the  patience 
which  you  have  shown  to  an  ally  so  tardy  and  useless  as  I  am,  and 
beg  you  to  believe  me, 

"  Dear  Madam, 

"  Your  Ladyship's  obliged  humble  servant, 
"  Reginald  Heber." 

To  the  Rev.  T.  E.  S.  Hornby. 

Hodnet  Rectory,  May  17,  1819. 

"  My  Dear  Hornby, 

"  I  can  assure  you  that  I  have  often  regretted  the 
long  cessation  of  a  correspondence,  which  used  to  be  most  agreeable 
to  me,  and  the  more  so  because  I  have  had  reason  to  apprehend 

'  The  article  here  alluded  to  is  on  "  British  Monachism,"  in  the  Quarterly  Review  for  1819. 


504  LETTER  TO  THE  REV.  T.  E.  S.  HORNBY. 


CHAP,  that  I  was  myself  the  defaulter  in  it.  The  truth  is,  I  have  been 
1819."  for  several  years  back  pretty  regularly  and  closely  employed,  arid 
have  found  every  year  less  and  less  time  to  bestow  on  any  occupa- 
tion, except  those  which  habit  or  professional  duty  render  neces- 
sary to  me.  And  thus  it  has  happened  that  the  letters  which  I 
have  written  to  my  friends  have  become  shorter  and  fewer,  till  I 
grew  ashamed  to  remind  those  who  had  reason  to  think  I  had 
neglected  them,  that  there  was  such  a  person  as  Reginald  Heber. 
"  From  Wilmot,  with  whom,  of  our  old  friends,  I  have  been 
able  to  keep  up  most  intercourse,  and  from  your  brother  George, 
whom  I  have  had  frequently  the  pleasure  of  meeting  at  Oxford, 
I  have  heard,  from  time  to  time,  of  your  cheerful  and  exem- 
plary resignation  under  continued  indisposition,  and  (which  your 
letter  confirms)  that  you  occasionally  amused  yoiu-self  with  poetry, 
though  they  did  not  tell  me  that  you  had  any  thoughts  of  pubh- 
cation.  To  mij  criticism  ijou  have  a  very  good  right,  since  I  shall 
always  remember  with  pleasure  your  frankness  and  good-nature, 
as  well  as  your  good  taste,  when  I  used  to  bring  the  foul  copy  of 
Palestine  to  read  to  you  in  your  dark  cell  at  Brazen  Nose,  in 
those  days  when  the  meaning  of  the  words  head-ache  and  heart- 
ache was  almost  equally  unknown  to  either  of  us.  You  may 
depend,  therefore,  on  my  reading  any  poem  of  yours  with  attention 
and  interest,  and  on  my  giving  you  an  honest  opinion  on  it.  I 
only  wish  my  judgement  may  be  as  good  as  my  will,  and  that  it  may 
not  be  even  less  to  be  depended  on,  than  it  formerly  was  in  questions 
of  taste,  since  my  habitual  studies  have  now,  for  a  long  time, 
taken  a  very  different  direction  from  poetry.  Since  my  Bampton 
lectures,  I  have  been  occupied  in  collecting  materials  for  a  huge 
dictionary  of  the  Bible,  on  the  plan  of  Calmet,  and,  besides  this 
'  piece  de  resistance,'  have  had  frequent  sermons  to  prepare  for 
Oxford,  where  I  am  one  of  the  select  preachers.  Except  a  few 
hymns,  I  have  for  a  long  time  written  no  verses.  I  had  projected 
at  an  earlier  period  of  my  career  as  a  student  in  divinity,  a  sort  of 
epic  poem  on  the  subject  of  Arthur;  and  have,  once  since,  medi- 
tated a  something,  I  know  not  how  to  call  it,  on  the  same  subject 


LETTER  TO  THE  REV.  T.  E.  S.  HORNBY.  505 

with  Montgomery's  'world  before  the  flood.'  But  I  have  had  no  chap. 
time  to  take  them  up  as  any  thing  more  than  occasional  amuse-  tsiJ)- 
ment,  and  merely  as  such  they  cost  me  too  much  trouble  and 
time  to  answer  my  purpose.  My  dictionary  is,  indeed,  the  pursuit 
in  which  I  find  the  most  amusement  in  the  long  run  ;  the  variety 
of  reading  which  it  opens  to  me,  the  shortness  of  the  different 
disquisitions,  which  are  each  of  them  at  an  end  before  I  have  time 
to  be  tired  of  them,  and  the  very  moderate  exercise  of  intellect  in 
a  work,  where  httle  but  judgement  and  exactness  are  called  for, 
enable  me  to  sit  down  to  it  at  odd  hours,  and  resume  it  after 
whatever  interruption  may  happen  to  me,  of  which  the  care  of  a 
large  parish  supplies  great  abundance.  Yet  even  this  sort  of  work 
has  its  plagues ;  my  materials  grow  on  me  as  I  advance ;  I  often 
despair  of  ever  finishing  my  task,  or  of  making  it  really  usefiil ; 
and  I  fear  I  may  have  to  say,  like  Grotius,  but  with  far  more 
reason,  '  Vitam  perdidi  ope?'ose  nihil  agendo.'  To  these  sort  of 
thoughts  your  verses  will  be  no  disagreeable  interruption,  and  I 
shall  be  obliged  to  you  to  send  them.  I  do  not  know  that  I  have 
much  to  tell  you  about  All  Souls,  or  any  of  our  common  fi-iends. 
The  Warden,  you  probably  know,  is  very  popular.  Vaughan  still 
in  Spain,  but  heartily  tired  and  meditating  a  retreat.  The  loss  of 
the  Lawleys  is  very  severely  felt  by  me  on  my  visits  to  Oxford. 

"  I  have  been  lately  making  a  push  for  the  preachership  of 
Lincoln's  Inn,  with  very  small  hopes  of  success,  Lloyd  of  Christ 
Church  being  supported  by  the  interest  of  Mr.  Peel. 

"  Believe  me,  dear  Hornby, 

"  Your's  very  sincerely, 

"  Reginald  Heber. 

"  Both  my  mfe  and  myself  are  sincerely  obliged  by  the  kind 
sympathy  which  you  express  in  our  recent  loss.  It  was  so  great 
and  vmexpected  a  blessing  to  us  to  have,  even  for  a  short  time, 
the  exquisite  sensations  of  parental  fondness,  that,  in  the  recol- 
lection of  what  we  have  had,  and  the  hope  of  again  seeing  the 

VOL.  I.  3    T 


506  "  WORLD  BEFORE  THE  FLOOD." 

CHAP,    beloved  being  who  was  lent  us,  we  have  still  much  to  be  thankful 

XVI.  ^ 

i«i!>-      for.     Her  health,  which  was  much  shaken,  is  I  hope  gradually 
recovering." 

The  poem  on  the  same  subject  with  Montgomery's  "  world 
before  the  flood,"  was  never  completed ;  as  a  fragment  it  is  here 
introduced. 


"  The  sons  of  God  saw  the  daughters  of  men  that  they  were  fair." — Gen.  vi.  2. 

There  came  a  spirit  down  at  eventide 

To  the  city  of  Enoch,  and  the  terrac'd  height  • 

Of  Jared's  palace.     On  his  tunet  top 

There  Jared  sate,  the  king,  with  lifted  face 

And  eyes  intent  on  Heaven,  whose  sober  light 

Slept  on  his  ample  forehead,  and  the  locks 

Of  crisped  silver ;  beauUfid  in  age. 

And,  (but  that  pride  had  diram'd,  and  lust  of  war. 

Those  reverend  features  with  a  darker  shade,) 

'  '  Of  saintly  seeming, — yet  no  saintly  mood, 
-  No  heavenward  musing  fix'd  that  steadfast  eye, 
God's  enemy,  and  tyrant  of  mankind. 
To  whom  that  demon  herald,  from  the  wing 
AHghting,  spake :     "  Thus  saith  the  prince  of  air, 

I "  Whose  star  flames  brightest  in  the  van  of  night, 
"Whom  gods  and  heroes  worship,  all  who  sweep 
On  sounding  wing  the  arch  of  nether  heaven. 
Or  walk  in  mail  the  earth, — '  Thy  prayers  are  heard, 
-  And  the  rich  fragrance  of  thy  sacrifice 

'i '  Hath  not  been  wasted  on  the  winds  in  vain. 
Have  I  not  seen  thy  child,  that  she  is  fair  .' 
Give  me  thine  Ada,  thy  beloved  one. 
And  she  shall  be  my  queen  ;  and  from  her  womb 
Shall  giants  spring,  to  nile  the  seed  of  Cain, 
And  sit  on  Jared's  throne  !'  "     Then  Jared  rose, 
And  spread  his  hands  before  the  Evil  Power, 
And  lifted  up  his  voice  and  laugh'd  for  joy. 

"  Say  to  my  Lord,  Thus  saith  the  king  of  men, — 
Thou  art  my  god, — thy  servant  I,— my  child 
Is  as  thine  handmaid ! — Nay,  abide  awhile, 
1 


"  WORLD  BEFORE  THE  FLOOD."  507 


To  taste  the  banquet  of  "an  eai'thly  hall,  chap. 

XVI. 
1819. 


And  leave  behind  thj'  blessing  !"     But,  in  mist,  ^^  '• 


And  like  a  vision  from  a  waken'd  man, 
"The  cloudy  messenger  dissolved  away, 

^ '  There  melting  where  the  moonbeam  brightest  fell. 
Then  Jared  tuni'd,  and  from  the  turret  top 
Call'd  on  his  daughter — "  Haste,  my  beautiful  ! 
Mine  Ada,  my  beloved  !  bind  with  flowers 
Thy  coal-black  hair,  and  heap  the  sacred  pile 

't'o  With  fi-eshest  odours,  and  provoke  the  dance 
With  hai-p  and  gilded  organ,  for  this  night 
We  have  foimd  favour  in  immortal  eyes. 
And  the  great  gods  have  bless'd  us."     Thus  he  spake. 
Nor  spake  unheeded ;  in  the  ample  hall 
His  daughter  heard,  where,  by  the  cedar  fire, 
Amidst  her  maidens,  o'er  the  ivory  loom 

-  She  pass'd  the  threads  of  gold.    They  hush'd  the  song 
Which,  wafted  on  the  fragi-ant  breeze  of  night, 
Swept  o'er  the  city  like  the  ring-dove's  call ; 

^'•''  And  forth  with  all  her  damsels'Ada  came, 

-  As  mid  the  stars  the  silver -mantled  moon. 
In  stature  thus  and  form  pre-eminent. 
Fairest  of  mortal  maids.     Her  father  saw 

-That  perfect  comehness,  and  his  proud  heart 
^      In  purer  bliss  expanded.     Long  he  gaz'd, 

Nor  wonder  deem'd  that  such  should  win  the  love 
Of  Genius  or  of  Angel ;  such  the  cheek 
Glossy  with  puriDle  youth,  such  the  large  eye, 
"  Whose  broad  black  min-or,  tlu-ough  its  silken  fringe, 
,    Glisten'd  with  softer  brightness,  as  a  star 

-  That  nightly  twinkles  o'er  a  mountain  well ; 

-  Such  the  long  locks,  whose  raven  mantle  fell 

-  Athwart  her  ivory  shoidders,  and  o'erspread 
-'  Down  to  the  heel  her  raiment's  filmy  fold. 

'><  She,  bending  first  in  meekness,  rose  to  meet 
"  Her  sire's  embrace,  than  him  alone  less  tall, 

-  Wliom,  since  primoeval  Cain,  the  sons  of  men 

-  Beheld  unrivalled  ;  then,  with  rosy  smile,        ^ 

-  "  WTiat  seeks,"  she  said,  "  my  father  ?  Why  remain 
'   On  thy  lone  tower,  when  from  the  odorous  hearth 
The  sparkles  rise  withm,  and  Ada's  hand 
Hath  deck'd  thy  banquet  ?"    But  the  king  replied, — 
"  O  fairest,  happiest,  best  of  mortal  maids, 

3  T  2 


508 


«  WORLD  BEFORE  THE  FLOOD." 


CHAP. 
XVI. 
181!). 


V 


My  pray'r  is  heard,  and  from  yon  western  star 
-!<=,  Its  lord  hath  look'd  upon  thee  ;  as  T  sate 

■  Watching  the  Heavens,  a  Heavenly  spirit  came 
From  him  whom  chiefest  of  the  host  of  Heax'n 
Our  fathers  honoiu-'d,— whom  we  nighQy  seiTe 
(Since  first  Jehovah  scom'd  such  saciifice,) 
With  frankincense  and  flowers  and  oil  and  com. 
Our  bloodless  ofiering  ;  him  whose  secret  strength 
Hath  girded  us  to  war,  and  given  the  world 
To  bow  beneath  our  scej)tre.     He  hath  seen 
My  child,  that  she  is  fair,  and  from  her  womb 
Shall  giants  spring,  to  rule  the  seed  of  Cain, 
And  sit  on  Jared's  throne.     What,  silent !  nay. 
Kneel  not  to  me ;  in  loud  thanksgiving  kneel 
To  him  whose  choice — Now  by  the  glorious  stars 
She  weeps,  she  turns  away  !     Unhajjpy  child. 
And  lingers  yet  thy  mother's  boding  lore 

"^  So  deeply  in  thy  soul  ?     Cm'se  on  the  hour 

^That  ever  Jared  bore  a  bride  away 
From  western  Eden  !     Have  I  traiu'd  thy  youth 
Untouch'd  by  mortal  love,  by  mortal  eyes 
Seen  and  ador'd  far  off,  and  in  the  sluine 
Of  solemn  majesty  reserv'd,  a  flower 
Of  guarded  paradise,  whom  men  should  praise, 
But  angels  only  gather  ?     Have  I  toil'd 
To  swell  thy  greatness,  till  our  brazen  chain 

'    From  fmthest  Ararat  to  ocean's  stream 

•  Hath  bound  the  nations  ?     And  when  all  my  vows 
At  length  are  crown' d,  and  Heav'n  with  earth  conspires 
To  yield  thee  worship,  dost  thou  then  rebel. 
And  hate  thy  happiness  ^     Bethink  thee,  maid, 
}^i.  E'er  yet  thine  answer,  not  to  be  recalled, 

-  Hath  pass'd  those  ivory  gates — ^bethink  thee  well. 

-  Who  shall  recount  the  blessings  which  om-  gods 
-Have  richly  lavish'd  on  the  seed  of  Cain? 

-  And  who,  if  stung  by  thine  ingratitude, 

I  (o  Can  meet  their  vengeance  ?"     Then  the  maiden  rose, 

-  And  folding  on  her  breast  her  ivory  arms, 

"  Father,"  she  said,  "  thou  deem'st  thy  warrior  gods 
Are  mighty, — One  above  is  mightier: 
Name  Him,  they  tremble.     Kind,  thou  caU'st  them ; 
Lavi.sh  of  blessings.     Is  that  blessedness 
To  sin  with  them  ?  to  hold  a  hideous  rule. 


\^^■ 


"  WORLD  BEFORE  THE  FLOOD."  50!) 

Water'd  with  widows'  tears  and  blood  of  men,  CHAP. 

XVI 

O'er  those  \vho  curse  our  name  ?     Tliy  bands  went  forth,  jgigl 


And  brought  back  captives  from  the  palmy  side 
/^.    Of  far  Euphrates.     One  thou  gavest  me, 

-  A  woman,  for  mine  handmaid  ;  I  have  heard  , 
Her  moimiful  songs  as,  in  the  strangers'  land 

-  She  wept  and  plied  the  loom.     I  question'd  her  : 
Oh,  what  a  tale  she  told  !     And  are  they  good,' 

'Die  gods  whose  works  these  are .'    They  are  not  good, — 

And,  if  not  good,  not  gods.     But  there  is  One, 

I  know,  I  feel,  a  good,  a  Holy  One, 

The  God  who  fills  my  heart,  when,  witli  glad  tears, 

I  tliink  upon  my  mother;    when  I  strive 

f'i    To  be  like  her,  like  her  to  soothe  thy  cares 
With  perfect  tenderness.     O  father,  king. 
Most  honour'd,  most  belov'd,  than  Him  alone 
Who  gives  us  all  less  worshipp'd  !  at  Oiy  feet 
I  lowly  cast  me  down ;  I  clasp  thy  knees, 

/         And,  in  her  name  whom  most  of  womankind 
Tliy  soul  hath  bless' d,  by  whose  bed  of  death 
In  short-liv'd  penitence  thy  sorrow  vow'd 
To  serve  her  God  alone, — forgive  me  now 
If  I  resemble  her !"     But  in  fierce  wrath 
/-    The  king  replied, — "  And  know'st  thou  not,  weak  girl, 

-  Thy  God  hath  cast  us  off?  hath  scorn'd  of  old 
..    Our  fatlier's  offering,  driven  us  from  His  face. 

And  mark'd  us  for  destruction  ?     Can  thy  prayer 
Pierce  through  the  curse  of  Cain — thy  duty  please 
Tliat  terrible  One,  whose  angels  are  not  free 
From  sin  before  Him  ?"     Then  the  maiden  spake  : 
"  Alas  !  I  know  mine  own  unworthiness. 
Our  hapless  race  I  know.     Yet  God  is  good ; 
Yet  is  He  merciful :  the  sire  of  Cain 
>       Forgiveness  found,  and  Cain  himself,  though  steep'd 
In  brother's  blood,  had  found  it,  if  his  pride 
.    Had  not  disdain'd  the  needful  sacrifice, 
-  And  tum'd  to  other  masters.     One  shall  be. 
In  after  times,  my  mother  wont  to  tell, 
/  <    Whose  blood  shall  help  the  guilty.     Wlien  my  soul 
Is  sick  to  death,  this  comfort  lingers  here, 
--  This  hope  survives  witliin  me  ;  for  His  sake, 
Whose  name  I  know  not,  God  will  hear  my  prayer, 
And,  though  He  slay  me,  I  wiU  trust  in  Him." 


510  "  WORLD  BEFORE  THE  FLOOD." 

CHAP.  /'•   Here  Ada  ceas'd,  for  from  her  father's  eye 

^g^g  ■  The  fire  flash'd  fast,  and  on  his  curling  lip 

■  The  white  foam  trembled.     "  Gone,"  he  cried,  "  all  gone  ! 

My  heart's  desire,  the  labour  of  my  youth, 
Mine  age's  solace  gone  !     Degenerate  child, 
/  -     Enemy  of  our  gods,  chief  enemy 

"  To  thine  own  glory  !  What  forbids  my  foot 
To  spurn  thy  life  out,  or  this  dreadful  hand 
To  cast  thee  firom  the  tower  a  sacrifice 

-  To  those  whom  thou  hast  scom'd  ?     Accursed  be  thou 
/  7{;  Of  Him  thou  seek'st  in  vain !  accursed  He, 

Whose  hated  worship  hath  enticed  thy  feet 
From  the  bright  altars  of  the  host  of  Heaven  ! 
I  cm'se  Him — mark  me  well — I  cmrse  Him,  Ada ! 
And,  lo  !  He  smiteth  not !"     But  Ada  bow'd 
Her  head  to  earth,  and  hid  her  face,  and  wept 
In  agony  of  praj^er.     "  Yea,"  cried  the  king, 
"  Yea,  let  Him  smite  me  now,  for  what  hath  life 
Left  worth  the  keeping  ?     Yet,  I  thank  the  stars, 

-  Vengeance  may  yet  be  mine  !     Look  up  and  hear 
'Thy  monarch,  not  thy  father  !     Till  this  hour 

I  have  spar'd  thy  mother's  people ;  they  have  pray'd. 
And  hymn'd,  and  have  blasphem'd  the  prince  of  air  ; 
And,  as  thou  saidest,  they  have  curs'd  my  reign  ; 
And  I  have  spar'd  them  !     But  no  longer — no  ! 
/  %  ^  Thyself  hast  lit  the  fire,  nor  Lucifer 

Shall  longer  tax  my  sword  for  tardy  zeaJ, 
And  thou  shalt  live  to  see  it !"     From  his  path 
He  spima'd  his  prostrate  child,  Euid,  groaning,  wrapt 
The  mantle  round  his  face,  and  pass'd  away 
\<\<^  Unheard  of  her  whom,  stretch'd  in  seeming  death, 
•/      "Her  maidens  tended.     Oh  that,  in  this  hour 
Her  soul  had  fled  indeed,  nor  wak'd  again 
"To  keener  suffering  !     Yet  shall  man  refiise 
"~Tlie  bitter  cup  whose  dregs  ai'e  blessedness  ? 
I  ^^'  Or  shall  we  hate  the  friendly  hand  which  guides 

-  To  nobler  tiimnph  thro'  severer  woe  } 
Thus  Ada  murmured,  thus  ^\'ithin  her  spake 
(In  answer  to  such  impious  mm-murings) 

^  A  spirit  not  her  own.     Stretch'd  on  her  couch 
"  She  silent  lay.     The  maidens  had  retir'd 
Observant  of  her  rest.     Her  nurse  alone, 
Shaking  and  muttering  with  a  parent's  fear 


"  WORLD  BEFORE  THE  FLOOD."  511 

Knelt  by  her  side,  and  watch'd  her  paintul  breath,  CHAP. 


And  the  Mild  hon'or  of  her  fixed  eye, 
And  long'd  to  hear  her  voice.     "  Penmnah  !  thou  ! 
My  mother  is  it  thou  ?"  the  princess  cried  ; 
And  that  old  woman  kiss'd  her  feet  and  wept 
In  raptiurous  fondness.     "  Oh  my  child !  my  child  ! 
The  blessing  of  thy  mother's  mighty  God 
2  to   Rest  on  thine  innocent  head,  and  'quite  thy  love 

-  For  those  kind  accents.     All,  my  lovelj'  one, 
All  may  be  well.     Thy  father  doats  on  thee, 

-  And,  when  his  wi-ath  is  spent,  his  love,  be  sme 

-  Will  gi-ant  thee  all  thy  will.     Oh  lamps  of  Heaven 
^^  =    Can  ye  behold  her  tlius  nor  pity  her ! 

Is  this  your  love,  ye  gods  !"     "  Name  not  the  gods," 
The  piincess  cried,  "  the  wretched  gods  of  Cain  ; 
My  mother's  God  be  mine  ;  they  are  no  gods 
"  Whose  fleshly  fancy  doats  on  mortal  clay, 

1  7     Whose  love  is  niin  !     Thinkest  thou  tliis  night 

-  I  have  first  withstood  their  tempting  ?  first  have  pro\'ed 
Tlieir  utter  weakness  ?"     "  Have  the  angels,  then, 

'  Visited  thee  of  old  ?"  the  mu-se  enquired, 
"  "  Or  hath  thy  father  told  thee  of  their  love 
/  >'  5   And  thou  hast  kept  it  from  me  ?"     As  she  spake 
A  bright  and  bitter  glance  of  lofty  scorn 
Shot  from  the  virgin's  eyes.     A  mantling  blush 
Of  hallowed  courage  darkened  on  her  cheek  ; 
She  waved  her  arm  as  one  whose  kingly  state 
ZT     Repels  intrusion  firom  his  privacy, 
^/~-  And  answered  vdth  a  calm  but  painful  smile, 

-  "  They  are  beside  us  now  !     Nay  quake  not  thus, 
I  fear  them  not,  yet  they  are  terrible — 

"  But  they  are  past,  resist  them  and  they  flee, 
~  "^ '    And  all  is  peace  again  ;  yet  have  I  gi'oan'd 
Beneath  such  visitation,  till  my  faith 
In  Him  I  serve  hath  almost  pass'd  away." 
With  that  she  rose,  and,  wrapt  in  silent  thought, 
'   Gazed  tlirough  the  portal  long, — then  paced  awhile 

2  V  V  The  marble  pavement,  now  from  side  to  side 

•tossing  her  restless  arms,  now  clasping  close 
-^  Her  hands  in  supplication,  lifting  now 
^Her  eloquent  eyes  to  Heaven, — then  sought  again 
"Her  lowly  couch,  and,  by  the  nurse's  side,     ^ 
"l,  '(■     Resum'd  the  woud'rous  tale.     "  Oh  friend,"  she  cried, 


.\vi. 

1819. 


512  "  WORLD  BEFORE  THE  FLOOD." 

CHAP.  "  And  only  mother  now,  yon  silver  moon 

ig].,'  Has  twenty  times  renew'd  her  course  in  Heaven, 

Since,  as  my  bosom  o'er  its  gii-lish  zone 

With  painfiil  tightness  rose,  I  bade  thee  change 
\^    7       Th'  imi^risoning  cincture.     Can'st  thou  yet  recal 
Tliy  playful  words  of  praise — thy  prophecies 
Of  one  to  loose  ere  long  that  golden  clasp, 
A  royal  bridegroom  .?     Strange  to  me,  thy  words 
Simk  in  my  soul,  and  busy  fancy  strove 
To  picture  forth  that  unknown  visitant, 
His  form  and  bearing.     Musiug  thus,  and  lost 
In  troubled  contemplation,  o'er  my  soul 
A  heavy  slumber  fell ;  I  sank  not  down ; 
I  saw,  I  heard,  I  moved ;  the  spell  was  laid 
'-  '^     Within  me,  and  fi-om  forth  my  secret  heart 

A  stranger's  accents  came  :  '  Oh  !  blessed  maid  ! 
Most  beautiful,  most  honoured  !  not  for  thee 
Be  mortal  mairiage,  nor  the  feeble  love 
Of  those  whose  beauty  is  a  morning  dream, 
vV  ^  •-•      Whose  age  a  shadow.     What  is  man,  whose  day 
"  In  the  poor  circuit  of  a  thousand  years. 
Revert  again  to  dust .?     Thee,  maiden  !  thee 
The  Gods  have  seen ;    the  never-dying  stars 
Gaze  on  thy  loveliness,  and  thou  shalt  reign 
2_7    A  new  Astarte.     Bind  thy  flowing  hair, 

Brace  on  thy  sandals,  seek  the  myille  grove 
West  of  the  city,  and  the  cavern  well, 
'"  Whose  clear  black  waters  from  their  silent  spring 
Ripple  with  ceaseless  stir :  thy  lover  there 
^  '     Waits  thee  in  secret,  and  thy  soul  shall  learn 
'  The  raptures  of  a  god  !     But  cast  away 
"   That  peevish  bauble  which  thy  mother  gave, 
-   Her  hated  talisman.'     That  word  recall'd 
My  straggling  senses,  and  her  dying  prayer 
'Passed  through  my  soul  like  fire ;  the  tempter  fell 
Abash'd  before  it,  and  a  living  voice 
Of  most  true  consolation  o'er  me  came, 
'  Nor  love  nor  fear  them,  Ada ;  love  not  them 
Who  hate  thy  mother's  memory  ;  fear  not  them 
^  '     Who  fear  thy  mother's  God ;  for  this  she  gave. 
Prophetic  of  this  hoiu,  that  graven  gold, 
Wliich  bears  the  title  of  the  Eternal  One, 
And  binds  thee  to  my  service ;  guard  it  well, 


^1.1 


"  WORLD  BEFORE  THE  FLOOD. "  513 

And  guard  the  faith  it  teaches  ;  safer  so  CHAP. 

Than  girt  aroiuid  by  brazen  walls,  and  gates  jgig' 


Of  seven-fold  cedar.'     Since  that  hour,  my  heart 
Hath  kept  its  covenant,  nor  shrunk  beneath 
_.    Tlie  spirits  of  evil ;  yet,  not  so  repelled, 
'  The}'  watch  me  in  my  walks,  spy  out  my  ways, 
And  still  with  nightly  whispers  vex  my  soul, 

-  To  seek  the  myrtle  thicket.     Bolder  now, 

-  They  speak  of  duty — of  a  father's  will, 

—  Now  first  mikind — a  father's  kingly  power. 
Tremendous  when  opposed.     My  God,  they  say, 

t) .  Bids  me  revere  my  parent ;  will  He  guard 

-  A  rebel  daughter  ?     Wiser  to  comply, 

—  Ere  force  compells  me  to  my  happiness, 
~And  to  my  lover  yield  that  sacrifice 

y        ^  WTiich  else  my  foe  may  seize.     Oh,  God  !  gi-eat  God  ! 
'So  ^Of  whom  I  am,  and  whom  I  serve  alone, 

"  Be  Thou  my  strength  in  weakness — Thou  my  guide, 
~-And  save  me  from  tliis  hour !"     Tlius,  as  she  spake, 
^With  naked  feet  and  silent,  in  the  cloud 
"  Of  a  long  mantle  wrapt,  as  one  who  shuns 
3'o  The  busy  eyes  and  babbling  tongues  of  men, 

—  A  warrior  enter'd ;  o'er  his  helm 

•\^i^  ~  The  casque  was  drawn         *         »         * 

*  #  *  *  # 


To  R.  J.  Wilmot,  Esq. 

Hodnet  Rectory,  June  12,  1819. 

"  It  gave  me  much  pleasure  to  see  the  other  day  that  you  had 
found  your  tongue  again  in  the  House  of  Commons.  I  am  con- 
vinced you  are  quite  right  in  not,  during  this  early  stage  of  your 
political  career,  aiming  at  any  very  ambitious  style  of  oratory.  In 
fact,  the  subjects  which  have  been  before  the  house  have  none  of 
them  been  of  a  kind  to  call  for,  or  admit  of  it ;  and  it  vi'ould  have 
been  a  very  short  step  indeed  to  the  ridiculous  from  that  sublime 
which  should  be  exercised  on  the  prison  committee,  or  the  bank 
restrictions. 

"  On  any  question  wherein,  as  Lancelot  Gobbo  hath  it,  it  may 

VOL.  I.  3    u 


514  BRISTED'S  "  AMERICA." 

CHAP,     be  advisable  to  '  raise  the  waters,'  I  have  Httle  doubt  of  your 

XVI. 

■819-      being  quite  sufficiently  animated  and  energetic. 

"  So  my  talents  '  in  the  eloquential  line,'  as  I  once  saw  it 
happily  expressed  in  an  American  newspaper,  are  not  likely  to  be 
displayed  at  Lincoln's  Inn.  I  was  not  much  disappointed  at  being 
obhged  to  relinquish  my  pursuit.  I  should,  indeed,  have  hked 
the  situation  very  much,  but  the  cold  water  had  been  so  gradually 
applied  to  my  hopes,  that  their  final  refrigeration,  when  it  came, 
was  hardly  perceptible.  I  had  then,  too,  a  nearer  source  of  in- 
quietude in  my  wife's  health,  \vhich  had  been,  for  some  time  back, 
very  uncomfortable,  but  which  has  since  visibly  felt  the  good 
effects  of  Darwin's  skill.  About  the  middle  of  next  month  we 
intend  to  go  to  Seacome,  a  bathing-place  between  the  ferry  of  that 
name,  opposite  Liverpool,  and  the  Black  Rock,  with  both  of  which 
you  are  acquainted. 

"  Have  you  looked  over  Bristed's  "  America  ?"  I  think  it  a 
curious  book,  full  of  useful  information,  and  written,  though  with 
prejudices  decidedly  American,  in  a  tone  of  more  candour  than 
you  would  guess  if  you  only  judge  of  it  from  the  Quarterly,  whose 
zeal  against  the  Americans  need  not  be  expressed  quite  so 
strongly. 

"  I  have  been  for  some  time  engaged  in  correcting,  collecting, 
and  arranging  all  my  hymns,  which,  now  that  I  have  got  them  toge- 
ther, I  begin  to  have  some  high  Church  scruples  against  using  in  pub- 
lic. Otherwise,  I  have  a  promise  of  many  fine  old  tunes,  not  Scotch 
as  I  once  dreamed  of  having,  but  genuine  Church  melodies.  This 
amusement,  for  I  cannot  call  it  business,  together  with  the  business 
which  I  cannot  call  amusement,  of  making  two  sermons  weekly, 
has  left  me  very  little  time  either  for  my  dictionary  or  the  Quar- 
terly. Yet  the  first  goes  on,  however  sloAvly ;  and  for  the  latter,  I 
am  preparing  an  article  on  Kinneir's  Travels,  compared  with 
Rennel's  retreat  of  the  ten  thousand,  and  another  on  Hunt's  trans- 
lation of  Tasso,  one  or  both  of  which  may  possibly  appear  next 
number.  I  have  also  been  reading  and  extracting  from  Dr.  Hale's 
new  system  of  Chronology  from  beginning  to  end.     I  did  this 


PARLIAMENTARY  DEBATES.  515 

chiefly  witli  a  view  to  my  dictionary,  but  am  also  inclined,  if  I  have    chai-. 
leisure,  to  make  a  review  of  it.  i^'J*- 

"  How  do  the  opposition  like  then*  new  leader  ?  his  tactics  do 
not  seem  to  have  been  good  lately.  Above  all,  however,  I  feel 
anxious  to  know  what  is  your  opinion  on  the  ultimate  fate  of  the 

Catholic  question  ? 

****** 

"  This  has  been  a  very  interesting  session,  but  has  it  not  also 
been  an  unusually  stormy  one  ?  I  do  not  recollect  having  read  of 
more  noisy  houses  than  you  have  lately  had,  nor  of  more  ill-tem- 
pered and  almost  challeugeahle  expressions  made  use  of  It  is, 
however,  edifying  to  see  in  how  very  Christian-like  a  manner  the 
members  of  your  house  have  learned  to  scold  and  retort,  '  scorn,' 
&c.  without  dra^nng  blood ;  and  I  am  more  and  more  convinced, 
what  you  were  not  willing  to  believe,  that  the  occasions  are  very 
few  indeed,  on  which  it  is  necessary,  according  to  the  practice  of 
the  world,  for  a  public  man  to  fight  a  duel." 

In  the  course  of  the  next  summer  the  editor  was  ordered  to 
the  sea  for  the  recovery  of  her  health,  which  had  been  much  af- 
fected by  the  sorrow  she  had  endured.  The  day  of  her  departure 
was  marked  in  her  husband's  diary  by  the  following  prayer : 

"  Faveas,  Deus  hone,  itineri,  saliiti  faveas  firmioremque 
redclas ;  aniyni  concede  traiiquiUitatem :  nostrumque  invicem  amo- 
rem  adauge  per  Jesiim  Christum  Dominnm  nostrum.     Amen." 

On  his  own  birth-day  he  writes,  "  O  quam  utinam  a  peccatis 
annorum  prcBteritorum  ahhinc  discederemf  Summe  Deus,  pro 
vita  quam  dedisii  humilliinas  ago  gratias.  Concedas  etiani,  Pater, 
2\d  Spiritus  auxiiium,  ut  quicquid  vitcs  supererit  Tibi  vivam  !  per 
Jesum  Christum  Dominum  nostrum.     Amen." 

At  Seacome,  where  Mr.  Reginald  Heber  soon  re-joined  the 
editor,  he  had  more  leisure  than  usual  for  poetical  composition. 
The  sea  always  possessed  a  peculiar  charm  for  his  imagination, 
and  formed  the  svibject  of  many  of  his  short  poems,  from  which  the 
following  are  selected : 

3  u  2 


516  "  THE  OUTWARD-BOUND  SHIP." 


CHAP. 
XVI. 
1819. 


THE  OUTWARD-BOUND  SHIP. 

As  bome  along  with  favoming  gale, 

And  streamers  waving  bright, 
How  gaily  sweeps  the  glancing  sail 

O'er  yonder  sea  of  light ! 
With  painted  sides  the  vessel  gUdes 

In  seeming  revelry, 
And  still  we  hear  the  sailor's  cheer 

Around  the  capstan  tree. 
Is  sorrow  there,  where  all  is  fair. 

Where  all  is  outward  glee  ? 
Go,  fool,  to  yonder  mariner 

And  he  shall  lesson  thee. 
Upon  that  deck  walks  tyrant  sway, 

Wild  as  his  conquered  wave, 
And  munnuring  hate  that  must  obey, — 

The  captain  and  his  slave  ! 
And  pinching  care  is  lurking  there. 

And  dark  ambition's  swell. 
And  some  that  part  with  bursting  heart 

From  objects  loved  too  well. 
And  many  a  grief  with  gazing  fed 

On  yonder  distant  shore, 
And  many  a  tear  in  secret  shed 

For  friends  beheld  no  more  ; 
Yet  sails  the  ship  with  streamers  drest 

And  shouts  of  seeming  glee  ; 
Oh  God  !  how  loves  the  mortal  breast 

To  hide  its  misery  ! 


THE  GROUND  SWELL. 

How  soft  the  shades  of  evening  creep 

O'er  yonder  dewy  sea. 
Whose  balmy  mist  has  luU'd  to  sleep 

The  tenants  of  the  tree. 
No  wandering  breeze  is  here  to  sweep 
In  shadowy  ripple  o'er  the  deep, 

Yet  swells  the  heaving  sea. 


"  LINES  TO  C.  H.  TOWXSHEND."  517 

How  calm  the  skv  !  rest,  oceaii,  rest,  chap. 

From  storm  and  ruffle  free ;  -^^''• 

Calm  as  the  image  on  thy  breast,  ^=^= 

Of  her  that  governs  thee  ! 
And  yet,  beneath  tlie  moon's  mild  reign, 
Thy  broad  breast  heaves  as  one  in  pain, 

Thou  dark  and  silent  sea ! 

There  are  whom  fortune  vainly  woos 

With  all  her  pageantry, 
Whom  cveiy  flattering  bliss  pursues. 

Yet  still  they  fiu-e  like  thee  ; 
The  spell  is  laid  within  their  mind, 
Least  wretched  then  when  most  resigned, 

Tlieir  hearts  dirob  silently. 


TO  CHAUNCY  HARE  TOWNSHEND, 

ox    HIS    LINES    PRAISING   THE    TRANQUILLITY    OF    A    RIVER,    WHILE    THE    SEA 
WAS    HEARD    ON    THE    NEIGHBOURING    SHORE'. 

Oh  Townshcnd  could'st  thou  linger  where  scarce  a  ripple  played 
Around  the  lily's  glossy  stem,  or  beneath  the  willow's  shade ; 
And  did  tliat  mighty  choius  aUurc  thy  bark  in  vain, 
Tlie  laughter  of  the  dancing  waves,  and  music  of  the  main  ? 

The  breeze  may  tell  his  story  of  soft  and  still  delight, 

As,  whispering  thi-ough  the  woodbine  bower,  he  fans  the  cheek  of  night, 

But  louder,  blither  sings  the  wind  his  carol  wild  and  fi-ee, 

When  the  han-est  moon  sails  forth  in  pride  above  her  subject  sea. 

I  love  to  tread  the  little  paths,  the  rushy  banks  between, 
Where  Tern  ',  in  dewy  silence,  creeps  through  the  meadow  gi-een  ; 
I  love  to  mark  the  speckled  trout  beneath  the  sim-beam  lie. 
And  skimming  past,  on  filmy  wing,  the  danger-courting  fly. 

'  See  Townshend's  Poems,  p.  206. 

'  A   narrow  winding  stream  which  runs  through  the  parish   of  Hodnet,   and  joins  the 
Severn  below  Shrewsbury. — Ed. 


518  "  ON  HOPE." 

CHAP.  I  praise  the  darker  shadows  where,  o'er  the  runnel  lone, 

^^^j^  The  regal  oak,  or  swarthy  pine,  their  giant  arms  have  thrown ; 

-  Or,  from  his  couch  of  heather,  where  Skiddaw  bends  to  view. 

The  fiuTows  of  his  rifted  brow,  in  Derwent's  min-or  blue. 

But  not  that  naiTOw  stillness  has  equal  charms  for  me, 

With  thy  ten  thousand  voices,  thou  broad  exidting  sea  ! 

Thy  shining  sands,  thy  rugged  shores,  thy  breakers  rolling  bright, 

And  all  thy  dim  horizon  speck'd  with  sails  of  moving  light. 

Oft  on  thy  wonders  may  I  gaze,  oft  on  thy  waters  ride ; 
Oft,  with  no  timid  ann,  essay  thy  dark  transparent  tide ; 
Oft  may  thy  sound  be  in  my  dreams,  far  inland  though  I  be. 
For  health  and  hope  are  in  thy  song,  thou  deep  fidl-voiced  sea ! 


ON  HOPE. 


Reflected  on  the  lake  I  love 

To  see  the  stars  of  evening  glow. 
So  tranquil  in  the  Heaven,  above, 

So  restless  in  the  wave  below. 

Thus  Heavenly  hope  is  all  serene ; 

But  earthly  hope,  how  bright  soe'er, 
Still  flutters  o'er  this  changing  scene, 

As  false,  as  fleeting  as  'tis  fair ! 

Mr.  Reginald  Heber's  return  home  was  i-ecorded  in  a  prayer 
of  thanksgiving  for  the  improved  state  of  his  wife's  health  : 

"  Gratias  ago  tihi,  Deus  ommiiotens ;  graium  me  reddas  ea- 
animo,  Pater  optime !  oh  uxorem  saluti  redditam ;  sanioremqxic 
me  et  religiosiorem  reddas  per  Jesum  Christum  Dominum  nos- 
trum.    Amen" 


ORDINATION  SERMON.  5IJ) 


To  R.  J.  Wihnot,  Esq. 

Vale  Royal,  September  29,  1S19. 

"  When  your  letter  reached  me,  I  had  just  received  a  request 
from  the  Bishop  of  Chester  to  preach  an  ordination  sermon,  which, 
as  being  a  pubhc  occasion,  and  as  being  an  unusual  compliment  to 
a  clergyman  belonging  to  another  diocese,  requix'ed  as  much  pains 
and  thought,  at  least,  as  one  of  my  Oxford  sermons,  and  was  at- 
tended with  the  additional  difficulty  that  I  was  at  the  time  from 

home,  and  out  of  reach  of  any  books. 

****** 

"  Another  topic  has,  indeed,  lately  driven  all  parliamentary 
disputes  out  of  the  field  in  this  neighbourhood, ;  and  from  Sea- 
come  to  Llangollen,  and  Llangollen  to  Shrewsbury,  we  hear  of 
notlring  but  Manchester,  Manchester !  Of  course  men  speak  of 
the  proceedings  there  according  to  then-  political  bias."        *         * 


* 


In  the  course  of  this  year  (1819)  a  royal  letter  was  granted, 
authorizing  collections  to  be  made  in  every  Church  and  Chapel  of 
England,  in  furtherance  of  the  Eastern  operations  of  the  Society 
for  Propagating  the  Gospel.  Mr.  Reginald  Heber  went  to  Wrex- 
ham to  hear  the  Dean  of  St.  Asaph  preach  on  the  day  appointed  ; 
and,  at  his  request,  he  wrote  the  hymn  commencing, 

"  From  Greenland's  icy  mountain," 

which  was  first  sung  in  that  beautiful  Church. 

In  one  of  the  numbers  of  the  Christian  Remembrancer  for  this 
year,  a  letter  appeared  under  the  signature  of  "  An  Early  Sub- 
scribei',"  containing  some  severe  animadversions  on  the  suppoi'ters 
of  the  Bible  Society.  Anxious  to  vindicate  an  association,  the 
good  effects  of  which  he  had  been  one  of  the  first  to  see  and 
to  promote,  from  the  unjust  accusations  brought  against  it,  Mr. 

9 


CHAR 
XVI. 
1819. 


5-20  LETTER  TO  THE  EDITOR  OF  THE  CHRISTIAN  REMEMBRANCER. 

CH Ai'.  Reffinald  Heber  wrote  an  answer  to  the  editor,  under  the  title 
1819:  of  "  An  Arininian."  As  it  was  that  gentleman's  wish  to  avoid  taking 
a  part  in  the  unhappy  controversy  to  which  the  Bible  Society  had 
given  rise,  he,  in  the  following  words,  declined  publishing  the 
letter :  "  It  is  with  regret  that  we  refuse  to  insert  the  candid  and 
liberal  arguments  of  '  An  Arminian.'  We  have  stated  our  senti- 
ments on  the  subject  to  which  he  refers,  but  have  refrained  from 
entering  into  the  general  discussion  of  it ;  the  publication  of  his 
letter  would  involve  us  in  a  very  unprofitable  controversy."  The 
original  letter,  with  a  rejoinder,  caused  by  this  refusal  of  its  inser- 
tion in  the  Christian  Remembrancer,  will  now  be  given  to  the 
public. 

To  the  Editor  of  the  Christiati  Rememhrancer. 

«  Sib, 

"  The  avowed  object  of  your  publication,  and,  still 
more,  the  candid  and  Christian  spirit  which  has  hitherto  distin- 
guished it,  induce  me  to  hope  that,  however  your  opinion  may,  in 
some  respects,  differ  from  mine  on  the  subject  of  the  following 
observations,  you  will  not  be  unwilling  to  hear  both  sides,  and  give 
circulation  to  whatever  may  tend  to  remove  or  diminish  mutual 
prejudice  and  misunderstanding  among  the  members  of  the  Church 
of  England. 

"  Like  your  correspondent,  *  An  Early  Subscriber,'  I  am  one 
of  those  clergymen  who  have,  for  several  years,  supported  the 
Bible  Society ;  though  I  have  not,  like  him,  seen  any  reason  to 
make  me  hesitate  as  to  continuing  my  subscription.  I  shall  be 
happy  if  I  can  soften  his  rising  displeasure ;  but  I  shall  also  beg 
leave  to  embrace  in  my  answer  a  somewhat  wider  field  than  that 
to  which  his  objections  would  confine  me,  in  justification  of  myself, 
and  of  those  who  have  acted  like  me.  It  is  not,  however,  necessary 
that  I  should  occupy  your  valuable  pages  with  the  general  contro- 
versy of  how  far  the  principles  on  which  we  acted  have  been  cor- 
rect or  mistaken.     It  is  our  honesty,  more  than  our  wisdom,  which 


LETTER  TO  EDITOR  OF  THE  CHRISTIAN  REMEMBRANCER.  5-21 

I,  at  present,  wish  to  defend;  and  something  will  be  gained,  at  ci.'ai' 
least  with  some  of  our  opponents,  if  I  can  induce  them  to  believe,  ""»• 
that  we  did  not  support  the  Bible  Society  fi-om  evil  or  (as  your 
reviewer  of  Mr.  Cowper's  work  expresses  himself)  from  '  mixed 
motives,'  and  that  we  have  a  right  to  some  little  more  of  tolera- 
tion, and  even  of  courtesy,  than  we  have  received  from  some 
writers  in  the  British  Critic,  or  from  the  ingenious  author  of  the 
'  Heligio  Clerici.' 

"  It  is  a  fact,  I  believe  pretty  generally  known,  that  when  the 
Bible  Society  was  first  instituted,  the  deficiency  of  Bibles  among 
the  lower  ranks  in  England,  Ireland,  and,  above  all,  in  Wales,  (to 
say  nothing  of  other  parts  of  the  w  orld,)  was  so  great  and  crying, 
as  to  call  for  very  strenuous  measures  to  supply  it ;  while  no  mea- 
sures have  been  suggested  by  which  this  end  could  have  been 
attained,  except  either  the  establishment  of  a  new  society  for  the 
dispersion  of  the  Scriptures  only,  or  a  great  augmentation  of  the 
fluids  of  the  venerable  Corporation  for  Promoting  Christian  Know- 
ledge. But  there  were  many  reasons  which  pointed  out  the  first  of 
these  options  as  the  only  effectual  means  of  remedying  the  evil 
complained  of. 

"  The  Society  for  Promoting  Christian  Knowledge,  useful  and 
active  as  it  has  always  been,  and  admirable  as  are  the  principles 
which  it  has  steadily  continued  to  disseminate,  was,  at  that  time,  nei- 
ther so  generally  known,  nor  so  accessible  to  new  subscribers,  as  it 
has  been  since  the  establishment  of  diocesan  committees.  One  of 
the  earliest  and  most  distinguished  members  of  the  Bible  Society 
has  been  known  to  assert,  that  he  had  never  heard  the  name  of  the 
elder  institution  till  after  the  new  one  had  arisen  ;  and  that  he 
has  no  reason  to  beheve  that,  among  laymen  hke  himself,  this  igno- 
rance was  unusual.  And  even  of  the  clergy,  whom  it  certainly 
behoved  to  be  better  informed,  there  were  many,  at  that  time,  who 
were  deterred  from  seeking  admittance  into  the  Society  for  Pro- 
moting Christian  Knowledge,  by  the  supposed  necessity  of  a 
powerful  recommendation,  and  the  fear  of  that  stigma  which  a 
rejection  would  cast  on  them.     The  Evangelical  party,  more  par- 

VOL.  I.  3    X 


5-22  LETTER  TO  EDITOR  OF  THE  CHRISTIAN  REMEMBRANCER. 


CHAP,  ticularly,  (I  use  this  term,  however  huproper  and  oflPensive,  as  one 
^«'  which  the  unhappy  squabbles  of  late  years  have  made  sufficiently 
intelligible,)  were  alarmed  by  the  reported  rejection  of  a  candidate 
recommended  by  Mr.  Wilberforce ;  and  were  naturally  inclined  to 
carry  elsewhere  those  contributions  Avhich  they  were  taught  to 
expect  would  not  be  received  into  the  treasury  of  Bartlett's 
Buildings. 

"  But,  even  among  those  who  disclaimed  the  peculiar  opinions 
or  practices  of  the  party  just  mentioned,  and  who  were  themselves 
already  contributors  to  the  elder  institution,  there  were  many  who 
anticipated  very  great  advantages  to  religion  and  to  the  Church  of 
England,  from  a  society  which  should  concentrate  in  the  pursuit 
of  one  grand  and  simple  object,  the  exertions  both  of  churchmen 
and  dissenters,  and  which,  without  compromising  the  peculiar  opi- 
nions of  any  sect,  should  embrace  the  contributions  and  exercise 
the  diligence  of  all. 

"  It  is  plain  that,  by  this  means,  an  accession  of  strength  was 
obtained,  transcending  all  which  could  have  been  accumulated  by 
members  of  the  Church  of  England  alone.  To  the  Society  for 
Promoting  Christian  KnoAvledge  the  English  dissenters  would  not 
have  subscribed  a  single  farthing ;  and  it  was  as  little  to  be  ex- 
pected that  the  Greek,  the  Lutheran,  and  Calvinistic  Churches  on 
the  continent,  in  Scotland  and  in  America,  would  have  united  with 
her  as  they  have  with  us.  It  is  true  that  the  dissenters,  if  left  to 
themselves,  might  have  established  a  Bible  Society,  and  have,  so 
far  as  their  means  extended,  pursued  the  same  plan  which  we  have 
conjointly  acted  on.  But  there  was  abundant  reason  to  appre- 
hend that  their  assistance,  thus  limited,  would  have  been  extremely 
inadequate  to  the  wants  of  the  German  and  Swedish  and  Russian 
Christians ;  and  that  their  common  hostility  to  the  Church  would 
have  suggested  to  all  the  sects  (unless  such  a  concession  were 
bought  by  the  co-operation  of  Churchmen)  a  less  inoffensive  mode 
of  proceeding  than  the  distribution  of  Bibles  without  note  or  com- 
ment, and  according  to  the  authorized  version.  And,  where  fo- 
reigners were  concerned,  we  of  the  Church  of  England  might  be 


LETTER  TO  EDITOR  OF  THE  CHRISTIAN  REMEMBRANCER.  323 

well  allowed  to  feel  some  jealousy,  on  seeing  the  whole  Christian     <^l' \i 


XVI. 


world  in  brotherly  and  exclusive  communication  with  the  enemies      "=""• 
of  our  establishment,  receiving  from  their  hands  alone  the  Word  of 
Life,  and  giving  to  them  alone  the  praise  of  zeal  for  the  dissemina- 
tion of  the  Sacred  Volume. 

"  It  is,  however,  a  fact  well  worthy  of  attention,  that  the  dis- 
senters, at  the  time  of  our  society's  institution,  were  so  far  from 
meditating  any  thing  of  the  kind,  that  the  plan  which  they  sug- 
gested, and  which  they  abandoned,  (at  the  instance  of  some  Chvu'ch- 
men,  in  favour  of  the  Bible  Society,)  was  a  new  institution,  on  the 
exact  plan  of  that  for  Promothig  Clmstian  Knowledge,  but  which 
should,  besides  the  Bible,  disseminate  the  tracts  which  favom* 
their  peculiar  opinions.  And  the  consequence  must  have  been, 
not  only  that  fewer  Bibles  Avould  have  been  distributed,  but  that 
those  dragons'  teeth,  which  our  enemies  sow  under  every  hedge, 
and  thrust  into  every  cottage,  must  have  been  multiplied  in  exact 
proportion,  as  less  of  the  disposable  wealth  of  dissenters  was 
expended  in  disseminating  the  Scriptures. 

"  For,  however  great  may  have  been  the  wealth  and  zeal  of 
some  individuals  among  the  separatists,  it  is  certain  that,  as  a 
body,  they  are  less  wealthy,  and  not  more  munificent,  than  the 
members  of  the  Church  of  England.  The  maintenance  of  their 
distinct  ministry,  though  dispensed,  for  the  most  part,  with  a  very 
sparing  hand,  is  felt  by  many  of  them  as  a  heavy  burthen.  With 
the  greater  number  it  may  be  counted  on,  that  he  who  gives  a 
guinea  for  the  purchase  of  Bibles  without  note  or  comment,  will 
distribute  250  penny  tracts  the  fewer ;  and  a  Cluuchman  was, 
therefore,  justified  in  conceiving,  that  while,  on  the  one  side,  the 
Bible  Society  promoted,  in  its  direct  tendency,  a  great  and  cer- 
tain good,  it  was  also,  incidentally,  the  means  of  preventing  a 
serious  evil. 

"  If  it  be  said  that  Churchmen  limited  their  power  of  pur- 
chasing Prayer-books  by  the  same  process  which  prevented  dis- 
senters from  purchasing  tracts,  let  it  be  remembered  that  the  great 
and  urgent  want  of  the  time  was,  and  is  still,  a  supply  of  Bibles  at 

3x2 


.5-24  LETTER  TO  EDITOR  OF  THE  CHRISTIAN  REMEMBRANCER. 


CHAP,    home  and  abroad;   and  whether  the   dissenters  had  distributed 
i«'9      Bibles    or   no,   we   must,    so  far   as    our  means   extended,    have 
done  so. 

"  But,  further,  it  appeared  to  us  who  were  members  of  the 
Society  for  Promoting  Christian  Knowledge,  that  we  were,  at  least, 
as  effectually  forwarding  its  interests  and  the  interests  of  the 
Church  as  connected  with  it,  by  relie\dng  it  of  a  part  of  its  bur- 
then, as  by  directly  augmenting  our  subscriptions  to  its  funds. 
My  parish,  for  instance,  requires  the  annual  distribution  of  a  cer- 
tain number  of  Bibles,  Prayer-books,  religious  tracts,  and  school- 
books.  But  if,  continuing  the  same  subscription  to  Bartlett's 
Buildings,  I  purchase  all  my  Bibles  from  another  quarter,  it  is 
plain  that  I  forward  the  peculiar  ends  of  the  society,  by  distribut- 
ing a  greater  number  of  tracts  and  Prayer-books  than  I  formerly 
did  ;  or  that,  by  not  drawing  on  it  to  the  whole  extent  of  my  sub- 
scription, I  leave  a  greater  balance  in  its  hands  for  general  purposes. 
There  are  few  clergymen  at  present  on  the  list  of  the  Bible  Society 
who  do  not  also  belong  to  the  Society  for  Promoting  Christian 
Knowledge ;  and  the  means  of  the  latter  are  certainly,  therefore, 
not  dimmished  by  what  has  been  most  unjustly  termed  our  deser- 
tion of  it. 

"  On  this  point,  indeed,  I  have  been  almost  tempted  to  sup- 
pose that  some  of  my  friends,  who  are  hostile  to  the  Bible  Society, 
have  laboured  under  a  singular  errour.  They  seem  to  have  per- 
suaded themselves  that,  on  becoming  members  of  that  body,  we 
enter  into  some  engagement  to  disti-ibute  no  Prayer-books  at  all, 
and  to  belong  to  no  other  association  by  which  Prayer-books  and 
religious  tracts  are  disseminated.  I  cannot  otherwise  account  for 
the  stress  so  often  laid  on  '  the  disadvantage  of  giving  the  Scrip- 
tures to  the  poor,  without  some  further  help  to  understand  them,' 
and  'the  necessity  of  inculcating,  on  proper  occasions,  the  peculiar 
doctrines  of  our  Church  ;'  arguments  which  (though  excellent  and 
invincible  if  used  to  recommend  subscription  to  the  Society  for 
Promoting  Christian  Knowledge)  are  no  more  to  the  purpose  when 
brought  against  also  subscribing  to  the  Bible  Society,  than  they 


LETTER  TO  EDITOR  OF  THE  CHRISTIAN  REMEMBRANCER.  525 

would  be  against  our  contributions  to  the  county  hospital.  But  char 
on  these  topics  I  have  no  time  to  dwell.  I  only  beg  leave  to  re-  isig- 
peat,  for  the  information  of  those  whom  it  may  concern,  that  most 
of  the  Churchmen  who  have  acceded  to  that  society,  distribute,  at 
least,  as  many  Prayer-books  now  as  they  did  before,  or  as  bear  a 
due  proportion  to  the  number  of  their  Bibles  ;  that  by  far  the 
greater  part  of  us  are  supporters  of  schools  on  the  national  system  ; 
and  that  we  are  fully  sensible  that  the  present  of  a  New  Testa- 
ment is  not  exclusively  the  one  thing  needful  to  make  a  man  an 
orthodox  Christian. 

"  But  while,  by  thus  uniting  ourselves  for  a  particular  and, 
certainly,  a  desirable  object,  with  the  different  sects  of  dissenters, 
we  hoped  at  once  to  avail  ourselves  of  their  efforts  in  a  good  cause, 
and  to  divert  them,  in  some  degree,  from  a  channel  which  we 
accounted  mischievous ;  while  we  thus  increased  the  distribution 
of  the  Sacred  Volume,  and  relieved  the  Society  for  Promoting 
Christian  Knowledge  from  a  part  of  the  burthen  under  which  she 
was  sinking ;  these  were  not  the  only  nor  the  ultimate  hopes 
which  we  were  inclined  to  deduce  from  such  a  union  with  those 
who  spoke  evil  of  our  ecclesiastical  establishment.  It  was  the  for- 
tune of  some  of  us  to  have  discovered  that,  among  the  different  reli- 
gious sects  of  our  own  country,  of  the  continent  and  of  America,  the 
opinions  and  habits  of  the  English  clergy,  more  especially  of  those 
who  are  called  the  High  Church  party,  were  very  remarkably  mis- 
imderstood  and  misrepresented.  This  might,  in  part,  so  far  as  the 
continent  is  concerned,  be  attributed  to  the  conduct  of  a  late  right 
honom'able  Irish  prelate,  who  amused  himself  with  rambling  over 
Europe,  and  disgracing,  by  numberless  eccentricities,  and  infi- 
delity almost  avowed,  the  order  of  which  he  never  performed  the 
duties,  and  to  all  the  other  members  of  which  he  was  a  subject  of 
indignation  and  sorrow.  Partly  too,  it  might  arise  from  the  fact, 
that  of  the  foreigners  who  visit  England,  a  great  proportion  sym- 
bolize with  those  who  separate  from  our  Church ;  and  are  led,  theie- 
fore,  to  form  their  views  of  it  from  very  different  sources  than  from 


526  LETTER  TO  EDITOR  OF  THE  CHRISTIAN  REMEMBRANCER. 

CHAP,    an  actual  examination  of  our  manners  and  doctrine.     But  be  this 

XVI. 

isi!'"      as   it  may, — a  very  general  prejudice  existed,  to  my  own  know- 
~  ledge,  on  the  continent,  against  the  Enghsh  Church  and  prelacy ; 

while  the  dark  and  inveterate  misapprehensions  of  the  dissenters 
at  home,  will  be  plain  from  a  cursory  inspection  of  their  pe- 
riodical publications.  Nor  were  they  the  dissenters  only  who 
were  thus  deceived  concerning  us.  A  considerable  party  within 
the  Church  itself  had  begun  to  show  symptoms  of  confining  the 
name  of  '  Evangelical  and  Religious,'  to  the  limits  of  their  ov^n 
Shibboleth,  and  of  accounting  all  their  brethren  who  disagreed 
with  them  on  particular  topics,  as  secular,  at  least,  or  careless,^ — if 
not  altogether  profane  and  carnal.  Thus  situated,  it  was  an  expe- 
riment, as  we  conceived,  well  worth  the  making,  to  embrace  the 
opportunity  afforded  us  by  the  new  Society  of  showing  ourselves 
to  them  as  we  were,  as  men  (I  speak  of  the  collective  body  of 
Arminian  clergy)  who  were  not  inferior  in  learning,  in  zeal,  in 
abihty,  or  in  personal  holiness,  to  any  other  set  of  men  upon  earth ; 
who  were  as  active  and  anxious  in  promoting  the  common  cause 
of  Christianity  as  they  themselves  could  be ;  who  were  actuated, 
even  where  we  differed  from  them,  by  a  love  of  God  and  man  as 
warm  and  disinterested  as  theirs ;  who  were  ready  to  meet  them 
in  every  office  of  brotherly  love,  and  to  co-operate  with  them  in 
every  scheme  of  apparent  utility  which  demanded  from  us  no 
sacrifice  of  principle  or  consistency. 

"  If  we  thus  succeeded  in  removing  their  prejudices  against 
our  persons,  we  trusted  that  they  would  learn,  by  degrees,  to 
regard  our  office  and  our  claims  with  less  aversion;  that  they 
would  give  us  the  more  credit  for  sincerity  in  our  peculiar  opinions, 
when  they  found  us  earnest  on  those  points  where  no  difference 
existed  between  us ;  that  they  might,  by  degrees,  be  led  to  enquire 
into  the  grounds  of  our  faith,  and  the  necessity  and  lawfulness  of 
their  separation  from  us ;  that  we  might  thus  prevent  that  schism 
which  was  as  yet  only  apprehended;  remedy  those  ancient  divisions 
which  were  chiefly  founded  on  ignorance ;  that  if  our  success  was 


V- 


LETTER  TO  EDITOR  OF  THE  CHRISTIAN  REMEMBRANCER.  527 

more  limited,  we  might,  at  least,  glean  a  considerable  amount  of    fl'>P- 
individual  converts;  and  that,  by  becoming  all  things  to  all  men,      """• 
we  should,  at  any  rate,  save  some. 

"  If  it  be  urged  that  the  dissenters  encouraged  hopes  which 
were  the  counterpart  of  ours,  and  that  we  might  as  reasonably 
apprehend  that  our  people  would  listen  to  their  allurements,  as 
that  ive  should  bring  theirs  over  to  the  truth, — our  answer  is,  that 
we  did  not  dread  a  comparison  between  our  forms  of  worship  and 
theirs,  our  preachers  and  theirs,  our  doctrine  and  discipline  and 
theirs ; — that  it  was  our  purpose  then,  as  it  has  been  our  practice 
always,  to  instruct  both  our  own  people,  and  such  of  theirs  as 
came  to  hear  us,  upon  the  necessity  of  making  a  choice  in  rehgion, 
and  the  danger  of  halting  between  two  opinions  ;  and  that  while 
we  hoped  to  make  gain  of  some  of  their  party,  we  did  not  fear,  and 
we  had  no  reason  to  fear,  that  many  out  of  our  own  flocks  would 
desert  us.  There  is,  indeed,  so  much  in  the  detail  of  the  English 
Church  service  to  attract  and  occupy  a  pious  mind ;  there  is  so 
much  in  the  human  heart  of  that  natural  imitativcness  which 
induces  every  man  (unless  strongly  and  extraneously  biassed  in  an 
opposite  direction)  to  conform  to  the  majority  of  his  countrymen  ; 
there  are  (so  far  as  the  higher  and  middling  ranks  are  concerned) 
so  many  temporal  advantages  and  conveniences,  so  much  of  social 
comfort  and  family  interest  associated  with  the  profession  of  the 
established  religion,  that  to  obtain  for  it  the  sujiport  and  affections 
of  men,  Httle  more  seems  necessary  than  that  it  should  be  offered 
to  them  in  its  genuine  colours,  earnest  without  rant,  dignified 
without  ostentation,  sober  without  needless  austerity.  Obtain 
such  a  hearing  as  may  convince  the  tUssenters  that  their  dissent  is 
unnecessary,  and  we  may  hope  to  see  many  a  good  man  brought 
back  from  his  perilovis  wanderings  into  the  unity  of  the  Church, 
and  the  sheepfold  of  his  Master  and  ours.  We,  at  least,  judged 
so ;  and  we  may  safely  appeal  to  the  calm  sense  and  candour  of  . 
our  accusers  themselves,  whether  expectations  of  this  sort,  how- 
ever vain  they  may  be  reckoned,  were  akin  to  the  views  or  feelings 


1819. 


528  LETTER  TO  EDITOR  OF  THE  CHRISTIAN  REMEMBRANCER. 

CHAP,    of  those  old  fanatics  with  whom  some  of  them  are  willing  to  iden- 
tify us. 

''  It  is  a  source  of  much  pleasure  to  me  to  be  assured  that,  in 
several  instances,  these  hopes  have  not  been  disappointed.  I  have 
seen  with  exultation  the  attention  and  respect  with  which  dissen- 
ters have  recognized  the  calm  dignity  and  Apostolic  earnestness  of 
a  Barrington,  a  Burgess,  a  Porteus,  or  a  Fisher ;  men  whom  they 
had,  till  then,  regarded  as  little  better  than  so  many  antichrists, 
and  whom  they  were  surprised  to  find,  on  a  nearer  view,  the  affec- 
tionate and  humble  overseers  of  Christ's  flock,  whom  St.  Paul 
describes  in  his  epistle  to  Timothy.  I  have  heard  a  dissenter  con- 
fess that  it  was  in  the  Bible  Society  he  first  learned  that  an  arch- 
deacon might  be  a  Christian  ;  and  I  know  that,  in  many  places,  a 
feeling  has  been  thus  excited  in  favour  of  the  Church,  which  has 
given  considerable  alarm  to  the  older  and  more  rigid  sectaries. 

"  Of  the  causes  by  which  these  blessed  hopes  have,  as  yet, 
been  in  some  degree  disappointed,  and  of  the  grounds  which  still 
induce  myself  and  those  who  think  with  me,  to  adhere  to  the  cause 
we  have  embarked  in,  1  shall  speak  in  another  letter.  What  I 
have  now  written  may  suffice,  I  think,  to  prove  to  the  more  inge- 
nuous of  our  adversaries,  if  not  to  Mr.  Smedley  himself,  that  it  is 
not  necessary  to  '  preach  from  a  tub,'  in  order  to  be  a  member  of 
the  Bible  Society ;  and  that  an  institution  which  has  been  advo- 
cated by  such  divines  as  Bishops  Porteus  and  Burgess,  and  such 
statesmen  as  Lord  Grenville,  Lord  Liverpool,  and  Mr.  Percival, 
may  possibly  be  defended  on  other  than  fanatical  or  interested 
views.  It  is  certain  that  a  society,  which  reckons  among  its  living 
supporters  no  fewer  than  thirteen  bishops  of  the  vmited  Church  of 
England  and  Ireland,  and  above  fifty  Christian  bishops  of  other 
nations,  besides  all  the  Lutheran  and  Calvinist  communities  of 
Germany,  Holland,  and  America,  is  not  to  be  treated  with  scorn^ 
however  it  may  be  assailed  by  argument.  It  is  even  possible  that 
a  principle  of  union  which  has  produced  such  mighty  effects,  may 
involve  in  itself  nothing  hostile  to  sound  reason  or  true  religion, 


LETTER  TO  EDITOR  OF  THE  CHRISTIAN  REMEMBRANCER.  529 

though    tlie   Church  of  Rome   (in  perfect    conformity   with   her     ^h^'' 
avowed  principles),  and  some  learned  and  conscientious  members      """ 
of  the  Church  of  England  (in  apparent  opposition  to  theirs),  have 
as  yet  refused  to  accede  to  it. 

"  I  remain,  Sir,  with  my  best  wishes  for  the  success  of  yovu* 
work  and  its  avowed  objects, 

"  Your  obedient  humble  servant, 

"  An  Arminian." 

To  the  Editor  of  the  Christian  Remembrancer. 

"  Sir, 

"  The  courteous  manner  in  which  you  have  rejected 
the  letter  of '  An  Arminian,'  leaves  its  author,  personally,  no  ground 
for  complaint  or  dissatisfaction ;  and  it  is  therefore  as  '  amicns 
curice,'  and  as  really  anxious  for  the  success  and  extended  utility 
of  your  publication,  that  I  venture  to  remonstrate  with  you  on  the 
reception  which  I  have  met  with,  as  an  advocate  for  the  honesty 
and  consistency  of  the  orthodox  supporters  of  the  Bible  Society. 
You  will  observe,  on  looking  back  to  my  letter,  that  I  had  pur- 
posely confined  my  apology  to  these  pointsa  lone  ;  that  I  also  had 
abstained,  as  far  as  the  thing  was  possible,  from  any  discussion  of 
the  general  expediency,  or  the  practical  effects  of  the  society 
itself;  and  that  I  was  more  concerned  to  show  our  orthodoxy  than 
either  our  ivisdom  or  foresight.  And  for  such  an  explanation  or 
apology  as  this,  we  might,  I  conceive,  have  anticipated  no  un- 
favourable reception  from  our  brethren  in  the  Church,  inasmuch  as 
we  have  among  us  several  bishops,  and  other  clergymen  of  un- 
blemished characters,  to  whom  it  cannot  be  supposed  agreeable, 
either  to  be  confounded  with  a  religious  faction,  whose  principles 
they  disclaim,  or  to  be  held  out  to  the  world  as  men  who,  having 
once  embraced  a  line  of  conduct,  adhere  to  it  from  obstinacy  or  a 
worse  motive,  after  all  the  world  besides  has  been  convinced  of  its 
irreligious  tendency. 

VOL.  I.  3    Y 


5.J0  LETTER  TO  EDITOR  OF  THE  CHRISTIAN  REMEMBRANCER. 

(HAP.  "  If  there  are  really  danffers  arising  to  the  estabhshment  both 

\'V  I  •  o 

i8>9'  from  within  and  without,  those  high  Churchmen  do  not  show  their 
wisdom,  or  the  sincerity  of  their  allegiance,  who  reject  the  expla- 
nations of  such  of  their  brethren  as,  differing  with  them  in  one 
sino-le  point,  are  ready  and  desirous  (which  I  know  to  be  the  case 
with  many,  who,  hke  me,  support  the  Bible  Society,)  to  identify 
themselves  with  them  in  almost  all  other  particulars,  and  join  their 
best  powers  in  the  support  of  their  common  interest.  And  I  did, 
therefore,  suppose  that  I  was  serving  both  sides,  when,  by  a  candid 
statement  of  our  principles,  I  had  prepared  the  way  for  such  a 
mutual  understanding.  I  even  hoped  that  by  such  an  interchange 
of  sentiments,  through  the  medium  of  your  work,  many  of  the 
absurd  and  objectionable  features  of  the  Bible  Society  might  have 
been,  by  degrees,  done  away  with,  or  rendered  less  offensive ;  and 
that,  in  the  words  of  your  own  prosjiectus, — '  what  was  of  an  am- 
biguous character  might  have  been  prevented  from  becoming  mis- 
chievous, and  converted  into  an  engine  of  unquestionable  general 
utility.' 

"  But  if  the  discussion  of  the  subject  was  thus  desirable  on 
general  grounds,  it  became  still  more  necessary  on  account  of  the 
attack  made  on  us  by  '  an  early  subscriber'  in  your  magazine  for 
April.  His  complaints,  it  is  true,  are  avowedly  confined  to  a 
particular  measm-e  of  the  Cambridge  local  committee.  But, 
to  say  nothing  of  liis  insinuation  of  something  dark  and  hostile, 
which,  in  our  general  conduct,  has  been  gradually  developing 
itself  to  his  view,  you  can  hardly  fail  to  observe  that  the  present 
state  of  the  Bible  Society  could  only  be  fairly  understood  by  a 
comparison  w  ith  its  first  and  avowed  objects  and  principles  ;  and 
that,  in  fact,  his  objection  went  to  the  very  root  of  our  union,  in- 
asmuch as  the  distribution  of  the  Scriptures  by  men  of  all  sects 
indiscriminately,  was  the  original  and  recognized  purpose  for  which 
we  gave  our  money.  It  was  necessary  then  for  the  advocate  of 
the  society  to  enter  into  the  general  question  at  least  thus  far, 
before  he  could  take  off  the  edge  of  the  particular  charge  which 
your  correspondent  made  the  ground  of  his  secession.     But  you 


LETTER  TO  EDITOR  OF  THE  CHRISTIAN  REMEMBRANCER.  531 

have  not  even  expressed  a  disposition  to  receive  an  explanation  of    <^'i.'y 
the  conduct  of  the  Cambridge  committee,  supposing  I  had  been      i"^^- 
incHncd  to  narrow  my  defence  within  those  hmits.     And  I  am, 
therefore,  constrained  to  conchide  that,  while  your  pages  are  open 
to  attacks  on  us,  we  must  seek  some  other  channel  through  which 
to  justify  ourselves  from  misapprehension  or  calumny. 

"  I  do  not  know  that  this  policy  would  be  a  wise  one,  even  if 
you  regarded  us  as  positive  enemies  to  the  Church,  and  as  leagued 
with  fanatics  for  its  subversion.  Few  methods  can  be  named  more 
likely  to  convert  an  enemy,  than  to  invite  him  to  a  fair  and  friendly 
comparison  of  liis  principles  with  yours ;  and  it  is  our  conversion, 
I  conclude,  and  not  our  excision,  which  is  desii-ed  by  our  Christian 
opponents.  But  if,  as  I  am  rather  induced  to  believe  by  the 
tenour  of  your  answer  to  the  letter  of  '  an  Arminian,'  you  regard 
the  dispute  as  one  in  which,  unhappily  for  the  Church,  some  of 
her  most  zealous  members  have  taken  opposite  sides, — as  a  topic  on 
which  a  fair  and  honest  diversity  of  opinion  is  possible, — and  as 
one  where,  in  your  editorial  character,  yovi  wish,  without  concealing 
your  private  sentiments,  to  act  as  a  conciliator  of  the  contending 
parties,  I  may  be  permitted  to  observe,  that  there  are  two  ways 
in  which  this  may  be  done,  and  either  of  which,  I  have  reason  to 
believe,  will  satisfy  the  orthodox  supporters  of  the  Bible  Society. 

"  The  first  is  to  invite  or  admit  both  parties  to  an  '  am'icam 
collat'ioneml  rejecting,  of  course,  or  repressing  in  your  capacity  of 
moderator,  all  acrimonious  language  or  unjust  aspersion  ;  confining 
the  disputants  to  as  narrow  hmits  of  rejoinder  and  explanation  as 
you  may  think  proper ;  and  reserving  to  yourself  not  only  the  right 
of  terminating  the  discussion,  but  of  summing  up  the  arguments. 
To  a  correspondence  of  this  sort,  I  certainly  conceived  myself  in- 
vited by  the  tone  of  your  prospectus  ;  and  though  I  suspected  the 
bias  of  my  judge,  I  had  so  favourable  an  opinion  of  his  competency 
and  candour,  that  I  should  have  been  glad  to  submit  my  arguments 
to  his  decision.  The  other  is  to  interdict,  as  far  as  possible,  all 
mention  of  the  disputed  topic ;  and  to  endeavour  to  call  off  the 
attention  of  the  combatants,  from  this  minor  and  internal  feud,  to 

3  y  2 


53-2 


CHAP. 
XVI. 
1819. 


LETTER  TO  EDITOR  OF  THE  CHRISTIAN  RExAIEMBRANCER. 

the  common  interests,  the  common  duties,  the  common  dangers  of 
the  Church  to  whom  they  both  profess  fidehty. 

"  The  first  of  these,  though  certainly  not  without  its  diffi- 
cuhies,  is  that,  I  should  conceive,  which,  if  well  managed,  would 
most  conduce  to  the  popularity  of  your  work,  and  would  most  tend 
to  heal  the  disputes  of  Churchmen,  by  accustoming  them  to  refer 
their  grievances  or  their  suggestions  to  a  common  and  unexcep- 
tionable tribunal,  instead  of  carrying  them,  as  is  now  the  case,  to 
those  particular  miscellanies  which  most  favour  their  preconceived 
opinions,  and  where  they  have,  therefore,  least  chance  of  having 
those  opinions  rectified  or  moderated.  On  the  second,  I  will  only 
say  that  it  will  require,  in  future,  the  exclusion  of  such  letters  as 
that  of  '  an  early  subscriber.'  You  will,  I  trust,  take  these  hints 
as  they  are  intended,  not  as  dictating,  which  I  have  no  pretensions 
to  do,  the  line  which  you  are  to  follow ;  but  as  merely  conveying 
the  sentiments  of  one  who  is  pleased  both  with  the  plan  of  your 
work  and  its  execution ;  and  who,  as  he  anticipates  much  good  to 
the  Church  from  the  establishment  of  a  rallying  point  for  her  de- 
fenders, is  desirous  to  extend  the  benefits  of  such  a  design  to  as 
many  of  these  defenders  as  possible. 

"  I  do  not  know  what  value  you  will  set  on  my  future  con- 
tributions ;  and  an  arduous  work  in  which  I  have  been  for  some 
years  engaged,  leaves  me  far  less  time  than  I  could  wish  for  other 
literary  recreations.  But,  should  I  be  blest  with  more  leisure  than 
I  have  lately  enjoyed,  there  are  other  topics,  perhaps,  more 
generally  interesting  than  the  Bible  Society,  and  certainly  on  which 
our  opinions  are  less  likely  to  differ,  on  which  you  may  possibly 
occasionally  hear  from 

"  An  Arminian." 


"  As  I  do  not  know  that  there  is  any  advantage  in  keeping  on 
my  mask  behind  the  scenes,  may  I  request  you  will  send  me  back 
my  former  letter,  if  you  have  no  further  use  for  it,  to  '  The  Rev. 
Regbald  Heber.' " 

Hodnet  Rectory,  June  14,  1819.  : 


CHAPTER  XVII. 


Critique  on  Scoffs  "  Force  of  Truth'''' — Mr.  Reginald  Heher  undertakes  to  write  a 
Life  of  Jeremy  Taylor,  and  a  critical  essay  on  liis  writings — The  Travel- 
lers'' Club  —  Inscription  to  the  Memory  of  the  Honourable  Frederic  S.  X. 
Douglas. 


The  following  critique  on  Scott's  "  Force  of  Truth,"  was  written  'l"'^}'- 
when  its  author  was  from  home,  and,  consequently,  when  he  had  '"^'*- 
not  access  to  books  of  reference.  It  was  a  very  frequent  practice 
among  Mr.  Reginald  Heber's  friends  to  request  him  not  only  to  give 
his  opinion  on  different  passages  of  Scripture,  and  on  controversial 
books,  but  to  direct  their  theological  studies.  On  one  of  these  occa- 
sions when  he  was  asked  with  what  commentator  on  the  Bible  it  was 
advisable  to  begin  a  course  of  religious  reading,  he  answered  "  read 
the  Bible  attentively  yourself  without  the  assistance  of  any  commen- 
tator; first  form  your  own  opinion,  and  then  examine  those  of  otliers." 


To  Miss  Bod. 

1819. 

"  My  Dear  Charlotte, 

"  Several  years  had  elapsed  since  I  last  read  Mr. 
Scott's  '  Force  of  Truth ;'  and  I  am  glad  that  my  attention  has 
again  been  called  to  it,  because  it  is  a  work  which  one  can  hardly 
read  without  deriving  advantage  from  the  eminent  ])iety  and 
sincerity  which  pervade  it,  and  the  truth  of  many  of  the  opinions 
enforced  in  it.  God  knows  how  earnestly  I  myself  desire  to  be 
altogether  such  a  one  as  Mr.  Scott  is,  in  strength  of  faith,  purity  of 


534  CRITIQUE  ON  SCOTT'S  "  FORCE  OF  TRUTH. 


( ifAP.  heart  and  life,  and  devotion  of  myself  to  God's  \vill  and  service ; 
'i8i9-'  and  it  is  because  I  regret  that  his  example,  and  the  truths  which 
he  recommends,  should  be  encumbered  by  any  irrelevant  or 
erroneous  opinions,  that  I  am  the  more  anxious  to  point  out  to  you 
the  parts  in  which  I  differ  from  him,  and  what  appear  to  me  the 
leading  and  pervadhig  mistakes  of  his  system.  To  the  few  points 
in  controversy  between  us,  I  have  now  for  many  years  paid  con- 
siderable attention,  though  certainly  I  have  never  been  so  much 
interested  in  them,  as  in  those  on  which  the  Calvinists  and  Armi- 
nians  are  agreed  in  regarding  as  '  the  great  power  of  God  to 
salvation.' 

"  Excepting  incidentally,  I  have  never  written  or  preached 
on  them,  because  I  regard  it  as  the  gi-eat  misfortune  of  our  timos, 
that  men  have  been  squabbling  and  calling  names  about  doctrines 
not  essential,   and  differences  which  only  exist  in  words,  to  the 
neglect  of  the  real  interests  of  the  souls  committed  to  their  charge. 
But  the  course  of  my  studies  has  often  brought  them  under  my 
attention ;  my  reading  has  been  extensive  among  the  elder  divines 
of  all  sects  and  parties  ;  and  though  I  will  not  deny  that  I  have 
been  always  under  some  degree  of  prejudice  against  the  pecu- 
liarities of  Calvinism,  I  do  not  think  I  have  read  the  works  of  its 
advocates  witli  an  uncandid  or  uncharitable  spirit.     So  far  I  am, 
perhaps,   as  well  qualified  to  judge  of  the  question  as  Mr.  Scott 
was.     In  one  respect  there  has,   indeed,  been  a  diffei'ence  in  our 
system  of  enquiry,  inasmuch  as,  though  I  have  always  prayed  God 
for  the  aid  of  His  spirit  to  guide  me  generally  into  all  truth,  and 
more  especially  into  the  knowledge  of  whatever  truth  was  neces- 
sary or  profitable  to  my  salvation  and  the  salvation  of  others,  yet 
I  have  not  ventured  to  ask  or  hope  that  the   Holy  Ghost  would 
secure  me  from  all  errour,   or  enable  me  to  decide  on  topics  so 
abstruse  as  those  of  free  will,   and  the  final  perseverance   of  the 
elect.     You  will,  therefore,  take  my  notions  on  these  and  such-like 
points,  as  the  opinion  of  one  sufficiently  weak  and  fallible ;  and 
who,  though  he  believes  himself  right  in  his  conclusions,    has 
looked  for  no  other  aid  in  forming  them,  than  (what  1  really  trust 


CRITIQUE  ON  SCOTT'S  "  FORCE  OF  TRUTH."  535 

I  have  received  in  answer  to  my  worthless  prayers)  a  teachable    tH.vr. 

.  .  XVII. 

mind,  and  grace  to  use  diligently  the  means  of  information  offered  |^^i_ 

to  me. 

"  That  Mr.  Scott  has  expected  more  than  this  seems  to  me  the 
lurking  root  of  the  errours  into  Avhich  he  has  fallen.  He  reasons 
throughout  his  work,  particularly  in  the  conclusion,  to  this  effect : 
'  I  have  examined  these  doctrines  carefully ;  I  have  prayed  dili- 
gently to  God  the  Holy  Ghost  to  show  me  the  truth ;  I  believe 
He  has  heard  my  prayers  ;  and,  therefore,  I  am  sure  that  all  which 
I  have  written  is  true'  He  professes,  indeed,  (in  p.  64  and  80) 
to  make  a  distinction  between  doctrines  absolutely  necessary,  and 
those  which  are  peculiar  to  Calvinists.  But,  on  the  other  hand, 
he  tells  us  that  the  system  of  true  Christianity  is  '  incomplete 
without  them,'  (p.  62.).  He  tells  us  (p.  71.)  that  he  has  been  led 
to  adopt  a  system  (which  in  p.  72.  he  explains  to  be  '  every  doc- 
trine of  the  despised  system  of  Calvin,')  'under  the  guidance  and 
teaching  of  the  Holy  Spirit ;  and,  therefore,  it  is  plain  that  he  has 
expected  as  a  right,  and  as  the  promised  return  to  his  faithful 
prayers,  not  only  the  sanctifying  and  purifying  graces  of  the  Holy 
Ghost,  not  only  grace  to  perceive  the  things  which  were  absolutely 
necessary  to  his  salvation — but  power  to  determine  between  the 
opposite  arguments  of  Calvin  and  Episcopius. 

"  Now  this  arises  from  a  misconception  of  the  promises  made 
to  prayer,  and  an  inattention  to  what  passes  within  and  around 
us.  It  is,  indeed,  as  certain  as  God  is  true,  that  whatever  He  has 
authorised  us  to  ask  of  Him,  He  will  grant  to  our  faithful  prayers 
through  Jesus  Christ.  But  when  we  ask  for  more  than  He  has 
promised,  we  ask  for  what  we  have  no  right  to  expect ;  we  pre- 
sume beyond  His  offered  mercy ;  and  so  far  from  being  bound  by 
His  promise  to  hear  our  prayer,  it  is  well  for  us  if  He  does  not 
send  chastisement  or  blindness  instead  of  the  prosperity  or  know- 
ledge for  which  we  are  over-anxious.  But  it  is  certain  that  God 
has  only  promised  us  necessary  things ;  and  all  the  passages  in 
Scripture  which  Mr.  Scott  quotes  (p.  75.  77.,  &c.)  are  understood 
by  all  parties  as  referring  to  necessary  things   only.     Thus,  if  a 


-y.i6  CRITIQUE  ON  SCOTT'S  "  FORCE  OF  TRUTH." 

c  HAP.     child  asks  bread  of  his  father,  a  good  parent  will  not  give  him 
^lei'^'"     a  stone ;    but  if  he  asks  for  a  fine  coat,  for  a  costly  toy  or  an 
~  unnecessary  (to  him,  perhaps,  an  unwholesome)  dainty,  his  father 

will  refuse  his  request,  and  possibly  punish  him  for  making  it; 
and  if  I  should  pray  to  be  made  a  bishop  or  an  expert  mathema- 
tician, I  should  fall  under  the  same  censure.  In  like  manner,  in 
spiritual  gifts,  placed  as  we  are  in  the  lowest  rank  of  spiritual 
beings,  and  sentenced  for  the  present  to  '  see  through  a  glass 
darkly,'  it  is  plain  that  the  promises  of  '  the  Holy  Spirit  to  those 
who  ask  Him,'  of  being  '  guided  into  all  truth,'  and  having  '  by 
the  same  Spirit  a  right  judgement  in  all  things,'  must  be  limited  to 
such  aids  and  particulars  as  may  ensure  our  salvation  through  Jesus 
Christ ;  and  that  we  may  as  well  ask  for  the  wings  of  an  angel,  as 
freedom  from  errour  in  whatever  doctrinal  point  may  chance  to 
attract  our  attention.  Were  it  otherwise,  there  could  be  no  such 
thing  as  diiference  of  opinion  among  those  who  are  really  Gbd's 
children,  while  it  is  plain  that  such  difference  exists  among  men 
who  are  likely  to  have  prayed  for  the  help  of  the  Holy  Ghost  as 
earnestly,  (though  with  somewhat  different  expectations  of  the 
manner  in  which  their  prayers  were  to  be  heard)  as  Mr.  Scott  him- 
self Nor  can  we  decide  under  how  many  or  how  great  circum- 
stances of  errour  God  may  allow  His  children  to  remain,  or  how 
small  a  measure  of  light  is  sufficient,  in  His  hands,  to  bring  them 
to  Him. 

"  Many  of  the  leading  doctrines  of  popery  are,  to  all  appear- 
ances, subversive  of  some  of  the  plainest  and  most  essential  articles 
of  the  Christian  faith ;  yet  I  cannot  read  the  lives  of  Bellarmine, 
Charles  Borromeo,  Vincent  de  St.  Paul,  Fenelon,  and  Pascal, 
without  feeling  that  they  were  holy  and  humble  men,  incessant  in 
prayer,  and  devoted  to  God  and  to  their  enquiries  after  truth ;  or 
without  a  painful  consciousness  that,  with  all  the  clearer  views  of 
God's  dispensations  which  I  believe  myself  to  possess,  I  should 
be  happy  beyond  my  hopes,  and  certainly  beyond  my  deserts,  to 
sit  at  the  feet  of  the  meanest  among  them  in  Heaven.  Nor  dare 
we,  as  I  conceive,   deny  that  men  like  these,  however  grievously 


CRITIQUE  ON  SCOTT'S  "  FORCE  OF  TRUTH."  537 

mistaken  in  some  points,  were  under  the  guidance   and  teaching    "'.^|'- 
of  that  Spirit  from  whose  inspiration  only  such  virtues  as  theirs      '"^''- 
could  proceed. 

"  Notwithstanding,  therefore,  Mr.  Scott's  prayers  and  since- 
rity, he  may  be  in  errour  of  the  most  pernicious  kind,  though  God 
in  His  mercy  may,  through  mists  and  darkness,  conduct  him  to 
Himself.  And  how  much  or  how  little  of  his  views  of  religion  is 
erroneous,  must  be  proved  by  argument  and  the  test  of  the  Holy 
Scriptures,  not  by  the  sincerity  of  his  conviction,  the  intensity  of 
his  devotion,  or,  what  he  himself  lays  so  much  stress  on,  the 
strength  of  those  prejudices,  those  hopes  and  fears  which  he  had 
to  encounter  in  his  progress  to  Calvinism. 

"  It  is  extraordinary,  however,  how  little  argument,  or  at- 
tempt at  argument,  there  is  in  his  work  ;  and  what  little  there  is, 
is  bestowed  exclusively  on  what  he  himself  professes  to  be  least 
essential,  and  by  no  means  necessary  to  salvation — the  doctrine, 
namely,  of  assurance  and  predestination.  The  rest  is  entirely 
taken  up  with  a  statement  of  the  change  which  took  place  in  his 
opinions,  and  Avhich  he  conceives  to  be  the  work  of  God's  Spirit. 
I  will  readily  grant  that  the  amendment  of  his  life  proceeded  from 
this  source ;  and,  as  my  own  opinions  coincide  with  his  in  many 
respects,  I  am,  of  course,  inclined  to  rejoice  that  God  enabled  him 
to  see  what  I  esteem  the  truth.  But  what  he  has  told  us  is  quite 
irrelevant  to  its  truth  or  falsehood. 

"  The  arguments,  however,  together  with  some  very  incorrect 
and  mistaken  assertions  (incorrect  in  point  of  fact)  which  occur  in 
his  work,  I  will  consider  presently.  I  now  wish  to  observe,  that 
the  very  strength  and  nature  of  those  prejudices  which  he  men- 
tions as  hostile  to  Calvinism,  might  incline  him,  when  he  had  once 
overcome  them,  to  go  too  great  lengths  on  the  opposite  side.  He 
was  at  first  a  concealed  Socinian,  then  an  Arian,  both  doctrines  in 
manifest  contradiction  to  the  opinions  of  the  Church  of  which  he 
was  a  member,  and  whose  articles  he  had  solemnly  signed,  which 
must  have  been  a  continual  source  of  misery  and  self-reproach  to 
a  mind  like  his.  He  would,  therefore,  naturally  seek  to  quiet  his 
VOL.  I.  3   z 


538  CRITIQUE  ON  SCOTT'S  "  FORCE  OF  TRUTH.' 


CHAP,  conscience  during  the  continuance  of  this  struggle,  by  listening  to 
"'">•  the  suggestions  of  those  who  urge,  (as  all  the  Socinians  do,)  that 
three-fourths  of  the  subscribing  clergy  were,  in  fact,  as  inconsistent 
as  himself;  that  the  articles  were  conceived  in  such  a  spirit  of 
Calvinistic  absurdity,  that  none  but  the  methodists  could  sign 
them  in  their  literal  meaning,  &c.  And  when  he  had  once  become 
alive  to  the  necessity  of  sincerity  on  such  a  point,  was  it  unnatural 
that  he  should  still  he  under  the  mistake  of  conceiving  the  arti- 
cles to  be  exclusively  Calvinistic,  and  labour,  therefore,  with  more 
earnestness,  not  so  much  to  find  out  whether  Calvinism  was  false 
or  true,  as  to  enable  himself  to  believe  it  ?  But,  indeed,  it  is  a 
trite  observation  in  common  life,  that  he  who  begins  in  one  ex- 
treme, is  more  likely  to  go  to  the  opposite,  than  to  stop  in  the 
middle  and  moderate  opinion.  In  politics  we  see  it  every  day  ; 
and  in  religion  it  is  no  wonder  if  a  vigorous  mind,  deeply  impressed 
with  the  dangers  from  which  it  has  escaped,  should  think  itself 
never  far  enough  from  the  burning  city,  and  not  be  able  to  rest 
even  in  that  Zoar  to  which  God  had  promised  safety.  And  this 
danger  is  then  more  likely  to  occur,  when  the  natural  temper  of  the 
person  thus  situated  is  warm  and  lively.  I  know  that  this  is  Mr. 
Scott's  temper,  as,  indeed,  he  has  himself  in  many  places  (as  p.  73) 
given  us  to  understand  ;  and  it  is  to  this  heat  that  I  impute  several 
of  his  misstatements. 

"  Thus  (p.  7)  he  tells  us,  that  '  the  doctrines  of  the  Church 
are  diametrically  opposed'  to  '  the  Arminians ;'  and  in  the  note, 
that '  numbers  of  the  Arminians  hold  the  doctrine  of  justification 
by  works'  in  part,  at  least,  and  verge,  in  some  degree,  to  the  Pela- 
gian system.  Now,  when  he  made  the  first  of  these  assertions,  he 
must  have  known  that  five-sixths  of  the  English  clergy,  many  of 
them  as  holy  men  as  himself,  and  as  sincere  in  their  subscription 
of  the  articles  as  any  men  could  be,  were  avowed  Arminians.  He 
must  have  known  that  Hales  of  Eton,  Jeremy  Taylor,  Bishop  Bull, 
Bishop  Burnet,  Barrow,  Tillotson,  and,  in  later  times,  and  of  those 
whom  he  most  admires,  Wesley  and  Fletcher,  had  all  signed  these 
articles  in  the  Arminian  sense ;  and  would  it  not  have  been,  in  a 


CRITIQUE  OX  SCOTT'S  "  FORCE  OF  TRUTH."  539 

man  of  a  different  character,  impudence  to  assert,  as  he  does,  (not  f^.".^'" 
as  his  own  opinion,  but  as  a  well-known  and  acknowledged  fact,)  '^i" 
tliat  the  sense  of  the  articles  was  notoriously  Calvinistic  ?  The 
observation  in  the  note  is  no  less  ill-founded  and  uncharitable. 
He  there  says,  that  '  numbers  of  Arminians  hold  justification 
by  works  and  Pelagianism.'  Now,  on  what  ground  does  he  thus 
accuse  us  ?  I  am  myself  an  Arniinian  from  conviction.  I  am 
pretty  well  read  in  Arniinian  divines,  and  yet  I  do  not  know  any 
Arminian  writer  worth  quoting,  from  Episcopius  to  Bishop  Prety- 
man,  who  docs  not  expressly  guard  against  both  these  errours. 
What  would  he  say  of  me,  if  I  were  to  assure  the  world,  that 
'  numbers  of  the  so-called  Evangelical  clergy  believed  good  works 
to  be  unnecessary,'  or  that  '  numbers  of  professed  Calvinists  held 
secretly  the  wild  opinions  of  Messrs.  S and  B — —  ?' 

"  Again,  he  tells  us  (page  11,  note,)  that  the  name  of  metho- 
dist  is  applied  '  to  all  who  preach  or  profess  the  doctrines  of  the 
reformation,  as  expressed  in  our  articles  and  liturgy.'  Here  also 
he  begs  the  question,  first,  as  to  what  were  the  doctrines  of  the 
refonuation,  and,  secondly,  what  are  the  doctrines  of  our  articles 
and  liturgy  ?  I  have  studied  the  question  with  some  care,  and  I 
certainly  find  no  Calvinism  in  either  of  these.  Our  chief  reformers 
were  not  Calvinists.  Luther  himself  opposed  Calvin  strongly  on 
the  subject  of  free-will.  Cranmer,  Ridley,  and  Latimer,  were  none 
of  them  Calvinists.  And  so  far  are  the  homilies  and  liturgy  from 
teaching  the  doctrines  of  absolute  predestination  and  necessary 
perseverance  of  the  elect,  that  all  the  early  Calvinist  teachers  ob- 
ject to  them  for  not  containing  them.  As  to  the  manner  in  which 
the  term  methodist  is  applied,  I  will  only  observe,  that  neither  Mr. 
B nor  Dr.  T were  ever  called  so. 

"  In  page  29  he  quarrels  with  those  who  represent  '  the  Gos- 
pel as  a  mitigated  law%  and  as  accepting  sincere,  though  imperfect, 
obedience.'  It  is  possible  that  these  opinions  may  have  been  some- 
times misused ;  but,  in  themselves,  v/hat  fault  can  be  found  with 
them  ?  Is  not  the  Gospel  a  mitigated  law,  when  Christ  Himself 
has  called  '  His  yoke  easy,  and  His  burthen  light,'  in  comparison 

3  z  2 


.540  CRITIQUE  ON  SCOTT'S  "  FORCE  OF  TRUTH." 

f  HAP.    with  the  law  of  Moses  ?     Is  it  not  mitiffated,  inasmuch  as  it  offers 
-x\  II.  ^  •  1  1 

i"i9-      remission  for  all  sin,  while,  by  the  law,  presumptuous  sm  could 

expect  none  ?     Does  it  not  require  both  sincerity  and  obedience 

from  us,  when  Christ  makes  obedience  the  test  of  sincerity  :    '  Why 

call  ye  me  Lord,  Lord,  and  do  not  the  things  which  I  say  ?'  and 

when  we  know  that  our  best  obedience  must  be  most  imperfect  ? 

Surely  this  observation  is  founded  on  mere  captiousness  ! 

"  In  the  same  page,  what  he  says  respecting  '  water  baptism,' 
is  founded  in  misapprehension.  Nobody,  I  apprehend,  ever  sup- 
posed, that  '  being  born  of  the  Spirit'  was  the  same  thing  with 
water  baptism.  What  we  maintain  is,  that  it  is  a  spiritual  grace, 
quite  distinct  from  the  outward  sign,  but  given  by  God,  according 
to  His  promise,  to  those  who  receive  that  sign.  We  believe,  that 
in  baptism  a  mighty  work  is  wrought  on  the  soul  by  the  Holy 
Ghost ;  that  the  person  thus  devoted  to  God  is  placed  in  a  state 
of  adoption  and  salvation ;  and  that  a  seed  of  life  is  then  sown, 
which  the  subsequent  favour  of  the  Holy  Ghost  (as  displayed  in 
His  various  ordinary  and  providential  visitations,  both  internal  and 
external,)  like  the  genial  influence  of  the  sun,  invigorates,  renews, 
and  calls  into  action.  Without  this  belief,  baptism  would  be  an 
idle  pageantry. 

"  From  page  13  to  page  56,  little  occurs  which  can  call  for 
remark  from  me.  I  cordially  agree  to  the  doctrine  maintained 
there,  of  salvation  by  Christ  through  faith  alone ;  but  I  conceive 
that  no  man  was  ever  called  a  methodist  for  preaching  this,  unless 
there  was  some  other  peculiarity  in  his  manner  of  doing  so,  or  un- 
less he  was  negligent  in  guarding  against  the  abuses  which  the 
Antinomians  have  endeavoured  to  ground  on  this  most  important 
and  blessed  truth.  I  have  at  present  no  books  to  consult,  but  I  am 
strongly  impressed  with  the  opinion,  that  (p.  39)  he  has  misunder- 
stood Hooker  in  his  sermon  of  the  certainty  and  perpetuity  of  faith 
in  the  elect.  I  have  read  that  sermon  frequently  and  lately,  but 
found  no  Calvinism  there,  though  some  of  his  detached  expressions 
may  at  first  be  thought  to  favour  it.  On  the  other  hand,  we  know 
that  Hooker  was  engaged  in  controversy  with  Travers,  on  the  very 


CRITIQUE  ON  SCOTT'S  "  FORCE  OF  TRUTH."  .'541 

point  of  absolute  predestination,  witii  which  perseverance  is  inse-     m\p. 
parably  connected.  !«i!i. 

"  What  INIr.  Scott  observes,  concerning  the  duty  of  content- 
edness  under  persecution  and  slander  is  very  true  and  touching ; 
but  he  might  also  have  laid  some  stress  on  the  necessity  of  avoid- 
ing all  unnecessary  cause  of  offence  to  weak  or  worldly  minds. 
Where  this  caution  is  duly  observed,  we  know  that  though  every 
Christian  should  be  prepared  to  meet  obloquy  in  the  cause  of  his 
Master,  since  it  is  a  visitation  which  happens  to  many,  and  may 
happen  to  all,  yet  it  is  not  universally  or  necessarily  brought  on  us 
by  the  strictest  piety. 

"  In  page  57,  it  is  said  that  persons  brought  into  a  state  of 
repentance  need  the  doctrine  of  election   '  as  a  security  that  they 
should  not  fall  back  into  their  former  course  of  sin.'     If  the  doc- 
trine be  false  this  argument   is  good  for  nothing,  since  a  false 
ground  of  security  is  of  all  things  the  most  mischievous.     But 
why  do  people  need  such  an  assurance  of  their  perfect  and  indes- 
tructible security  ?     Why,  unless  that  they  may  relax  that  con- 
stant vigilance  over  themselves  which  I  grant  is  painful,  but  which 
our  Lord  Himself  enjoins  when  He  bids  us  *  watch !'     Surely  no 
better  ground  of  hope  can  be  desired  by  even  the  most  hvmible 
Christian  than  the  knowledge  that  Christ  loves  him  and  has  died 
for  him,   and  that  He  will  never  withdraw  His  gracious  protection 
from  him,  unless  he  himself  wilfully  and  repeatedly  flings  it  away  ! 
Nothing  we  know  can  separate  us  from  Christ's  love  so  long  as  we 
ourselves  continue  to  love  Him  ;  and  who  that  has  truly  loved  ever 
apprehended  that  his  affections  were  likely  to  alter  ?     The  fall  of 
a  sincere  behever  is  possible  ;  and  therefore  always  to  be  guarded 
against,  but  it  is  not  probable,  and  this  improbability  goes  on  in- 
creasing as  life  passes  away,  and  the  hour  of  our  reward  draws 
nearer,  till  at  length  we  may,  doubtless,  cry  out  with  St.  Paul, 
"  Henceforth  is  laid  up  for  me  a  crown  of  righteousness  !"     But 
perfect  seciu-ity  rather  diminishes  than  increases  the  blessechiess  of 
hope  ;  when  the  vessel  is  in  harbour  the  interest  of  the  voyage  is 
at  an  end ;  and  St.  Paul  must  have  felt  less  keenly  his  aspirations 


542 


CRITIQUE  ON  SCOTT'S  "  FORCE  OF  TRUTH." 


CHAP. 
XVII. 
IfiI9. 


after  his  Heavenly  home,  if  he  had  not,  as  he  himself  says  he  had, 
these  hopes  contrasted  with  the  possibihty  of  becoming  '  a  cast- 
away.' 

"  But  Mr.  Scott  forgets  that  there  is  a  reverse  to  the  doctrine 
of  election,  which,  far  from  being  a  source  of  comfort,  is  full  of 
horror.  It  is  all  very  well  for  a  person  with  good  animal  spirits, 
-with  a  good  opinion  of  himself,  and  inclined  to  look  on  the  bright 
side  of  things,  to  fancy  that  God  has,  from  all  eternity,  predestined 
his  salvation,  and  that,  under  these  circumstances,  he  cannot 
finally  fall.  But  how  can  he  be  sure  that  he  is  really  one  of  the 
favoured  elect  ?  And  what  are  his  expectations  if  this  should  not 
be  the  case  ?  He  knows  that  instances  are  on  record  of  those 
who,  having  begun  to  all  appearance  well,  and  tasted  the  spiritual 
blessings  of  Christianity,  have  yet  at  length  fallen  away.  And  how 
can  he  be  sure  that  his  own  present  feehngs  of  faith  and  love  may 
not  be  like  those  which  moved  Herod  '  to  do  many  things,'  nay, 
that  this  short  and  seeming  favour  of  Heaven  may  not  be  sent  to 
make  his  fall  more  dreadful,  and  increase  his  final  damnation  ? 
While  we  know  the  effects  which  the  doctrines  of  predestination 
produced  on  such  a  mind  as  that  of  Cowper,  it  is  surely  very  dan- 
gerous to  employ  it  as  a  som-ce  of  comfort  to  weak  believers. 

"  I  know  that  there  are  modern  Calvinists  who,  with  amiable 
inconsistency,  profess  to  hold  the  doctrine  of  election  without  that 
of  reprobation.  But  it  is  strange  that  any  man  can  be  so  blind  as 
not  to  perceive  that  the  one  involves  the  other.  The  doctrine  of 
election,  as  generally  stated,  and  as  held  by  all  Calvinists,  is,  that 
all  M'ho  are  saved  are  saved  by  an  effectual  call  from  God  which 
raises  them  from  the  lost  condition  in  which  they  are  by  nature  ;  a 
call  which,  as  it  proceeds  from  His  absolute  purpose  that  they 
should  be  saved,  they  have  no  power  to  resist,  seeing  that  He 
inchnes  their  will  to  obey  at  the  same  moment  that  He  makes. 
Himself  known  unto  them.  But  if  none  are  saved  who  have  not 
this  call,  all  are  damned  who  have  it  not ;  and  since  men  are 
damned  for  their  sins,  and  since  those  who  are  not  called,  cannot 
help  sinning,  seeing  it  is  the  nature  which  cleaves  to  them,  and 


CRITIQUE  ON  SCOTT'S  "  FORCE  OF  TRUTH."  543 

which  they  can  no  more  get  rid  of  than  they  can  creep  out  of  their     chap. 
bodies, — it  follows  that  men  are  damned,  that  is,  punished  ever-      i^i" 
lastingly  by  a  merciful  God,  for  actions  which  they  could  not  help 
committing ! 

"  If,  indeed,  we  held  with  Baxter  that  only  a  few  chosen 
vessels,  such  as  St.  Paul,  are  effectually,  that  is,  u-resistibly,  called 
to  eternal  life,  while  all  the  rest  of  mankind  have  grace  offered  to 
them  which  they  may  either  improve  or  reject,  we  get  rid  of  these 
difficulties.  But  it  is  plain  that  this  is  something  very  different 
from  Calvinism ;  and  moreover,  that,  though  it  might  have  been  a 
source  of  confidence  to  such  a  one  as  St.  Paul,  yet  in  the  case  of 
ordinary  Christians,  more  especially  timorous  ones,  it  leaves  the 
question  just  where  it  found  it,  and  differs  in  no  respect  from 
Arminianism.  It  is,  however,  a  very  harmless  opinion,  and  one  to 
which  I  have  no  objection,  except  that  I  conceive  it  contrary  to 
Scriptm-e. 

"  For,  surely,  if  any  men  were  ever  effectually  called  to  salva- 
tion, they  must  have  been  those  whom  Christ  himself  selected 
from  the  world,  and  to  all  of  whom,  without  exception.  He  pro- 
mises that  they  should  sit  with  Him  '  on  twelve  thrones'  in  His 
kingdom.  No  one  will  dare  to  say  that  Christ  could  have  made 
such  a  promise  to  any  person  who  was,  at  that  time,  in  a  state  of 
reprobation.  Yet  one  of  these  afterwards  betrayed  his  Master  and 
hanged  himself!  But  where  is  the  necessary  perseverance  of  the 
elect,  if  an  apostle  thus  fell  from  grace  received  ?  Oh,  when  w^e 
read  these  things,  it  becomes  us  '  not  to  be  high-minded,  but  to 
fear,'  not  to  flatter  ourselves  with  hopes  that  our  salvation  is  abso- 
lutely secured  to  us,  but  diligently  to  improve  the  grace  given  lest 
it  should  hereafter  be  taken  away,  and  to  seek  '  in  this  our  day 
the  things  that  belong  to  our  peace,'  lest  they  should  '  be  hidden 
from  our  eyes !' 

"  Mr.  Scott  (page  59)  defends  the  justice  of  that  conduct 
which  the  Calvinists  impute  to  God,  in  an  argument  (the  only 
argument  in  his  work)  to  the  following  effect.  '  The  doctrine  of 
personal  election  to  eternal  life  lies  open  to  no  objection  which 


544 


CRITIQUE  ON  SCOTTS  "  FORCE  OF  TRUTH. 


CHAP. 
XVII. 
181  !J. 


may  not  be  urged  against  God's  placing  one  nation  in  a  more 
favourable  condition  than  another  as  to  religious  advantages.'  I 
answer,  the  case  sare  widely  different.  A  Christian  nation,  or  an 
individual  to  whom  Christianity  is  made  known,  is  certainly  blessed 
with  far  greater  means  of  grace,  far  more  powerful  motives  to  holi- 
ness, and  with  spiritual  aid  and  comfort  far  greater  than  the 
heathen.  But  though  the  heathen  has  fewer  and  less  advantages, 
I  do  not  beheve  him  to  be  altogether  left  destitute.  He  may 
'  know  that  God  is,  and  that  He  is  a  rewarder  of  them  that  dili- 
gently seek  Him,'  and  knowing  this,  which,  for  all  that  appears  to 
the  contrary,  was  as  much  as  Enoch  knew,  he  may,  like  Enoch, 
draw  near  to  God,  and  please  Him  and  obtain  a  seat  in  one  of  those 
many  mansions  which  our  Father's  house  contains,  though  not  in 
so  high  a  place  of  glory  as  he  might  have  obtained  had  Christ  been 
preached  to  him. 

"  I  have  discussed  this  point  at  some  length  in  my  sixth 
Bampton  Lecture,  where  I  think  I  have  proved  that  they  have  the 
assistance  of  the  Holy  Ghost  in  the  same  kind,  though  not  in  the 
same  measure  with  ourselves.  But  at  all  events,  they  will  be 
judged  according  to  what  they  have,  not  according  to  what  they 
have  7iot  received  ;  and  in  their  blindest  state  they  are  on  the  same 
footing  with  infants,  idiots,  and  madmen,  whom  Mr.  Scott  will 
hardly  deny  to  be  witliin  the  limits  of  Christ's  atonement,  and  to  be 
the  objects  of  His  care  whom  they  know  not,  and  on  whom  they, 
therefore,  cannot  believe.  But  the  condition  of  the  majority  of 
mankind,  according  to  the  system  of  Calvin,  is  that  of  many  millions 
of  creatures  brought  into  the  world  in  order  that  they  may  sin  and 
die  and  suffer  everlastingly,  without  any  power,  either  of  their  own, 
or  given  them  from  above,  to  avoid  the  wrath  to  come  ;  punished 
in  hell-fire  for  actions  which  it  was  the  misfortune  of  their  nature 
not  to  be  able  to  avoid.  Nor  is  this  all ;  for  if  the  system  be  true, 
the  coming  of  Christ  was,  to  these  unfortunate  beings,  the  most 
refined  and  dreadful  act  of  cruelty  which  could  have  been  inflicted. 
I  prove  it  thus.  All  Christians  agree,  that  they  to  whom  Christ 
was  preached,  and  who  did  not  believe  in  Him,  incurred  by  this 


CRITIQUE  ON  SCOTT'S  "  FORCE  OF  TRUTH."  545 

hardness  of  heart  a  great  additional  guilt,   and  will  be  punished     char 
more  severely  in  Hell  than  they  other\\-ise  would  have  been.     But      '"'^- 
no  person  could  believe  without  God's  grace  assisting  and  disposing 
him  to  do  it.     The  Arminian  says,  that  this  grace  is  given  to  every 
man  to  profit  withal,  and    that   they   who  neglect  or   resist  it, 
perish  by  their  own  fault. 

"  But  what  says  the  Calvinist, — this  grace  is  only  given  to 
God's  elect.  God's  elect  were  but  a  small  proportion  of  those  to 
whom  Christ  was  preached.  Therefore  the  greater  number  had 
no  power  to  believe  whatever. 

"  In  other  words,  God  sent  His  Son  into  the  world  with  offers 
of  mercy  and  salvation  to  all  men,  on  certain  conditions,  which 
were  morally  impossible  for  most  men  to  fulfill.  And  not  only  did  He 
thus  mock  them  with  pretended  mercy,  but  He  actually  made  their 
not  availing  themselves  of  that  mercy,  a  pretext  for  punishing  them 
more  severely !  God  forgive  those  who  hold  doctrines  which  lead 
to  a  conclusion  so  horrible !  But,  turn  it  as  they  please,  I  defy 
the  Calvinists  to  find  a  flaw  in  the  chain  of  inferences.  '  Unmerited 
favour  to  one  person,'  says  Mr.  Scott,  '  is  no  injustice  to  others.' 
Certainly  not ;  pro^^ded  it  is  not  imputed  as  a  crime  to  these  last 
that  they  have  not  been  equally  fortunate.  But  if,  of  two  naked 
children,  I  give  a  shirt  to  the  one,  and  beat  the  other  for  not 
having  received  what  I  never  gave  him,  I  should  be  a  strange  sort 
of  parent.  Again,  Mr.  Scott  observes,  that  the  existence  of 
wickedness  and  misery  at  all  '  equally  embarrasses  every  system  of 
Christianity  and  even  Deism,'  (p.  60.)  Now,  in  the  first  place, 
though  the  Arminian  system  may  not  get  rid  of  all  difficulties,  yet 
it  certainly  lessens  them  ;  and  though  many  things  must  always 
surpass  our  comprehension  in  the  scheme  of  Providence,  that  is  no 
reason  why  we  should  rest  contented  under  such  an  appaUing 
creed  as  that  of  Calvin.  But,  secondly,  there  is  a  great  difference 
between  the  jyermission  of  evil,  and  the  j^erpetrating  it.  God  may 
have  seen  fit  to  permit  men  to  corrupt  their  way  upon  earth  ;  but, 
as  God  is  true.  He  never  would  pretend  a  concern  for  the  souls  of 
all  men,  and  desire  that  all  should  be  saved,  while  He  never  gave 
VOL.  I.  4   a 


546  CRITIQUE  ON  SCOTT'S  "  FORCE  OF  TRUTH." 


CHAP,  to  the  greater  part  of  men  a  single  chance  for  salvation  ;  and,  as 
"i"'"-  God  is  just,  He  will  not  punish  men  eternally  for  not  doing  that 
which  He,  their  Maker,  and  professing  to  be  their  Redeemer, 
never  gave  them  the  power  to  do. 

''  As  to  Mr.  Scott's  observation,  that '  if  any  man  be  fully  per- 
suaded that  God  has  decreed  his  eternal  happiness,  he  would  find 
his  aversion  to  the  doctrine  much  abated,'  it  merely  amounts  to 
this  ;  that  those  who  have  a  good  opinion  of  themselves,  and  believe 
themselves  God's  peculiar  favourites,  care  very  little  for  God's 
honour  and  justice,  or  for  the  prospects  of  their  fellow  creatures  ! 
I  can  only  say,  God  keep  me  and  those  whom  I  love  from  such  a 
temper !     Mr.  Scott,  I  hope,  has  a  very  different  one. 

"  Do  not,  however,  mistake  me,  or  think  that  I  mean  to  reflect 
on  the  personal  character  and  personal  holiness  of  those  who  hold 
the  doctrine  of  election  ;  I  am  acquainted  with  some  ;  I  know  the 
works  of  many  ;  and  I  believe  them  to  be  men  as  holy,  as  humble, 
and  as  charitable  as  men,  in  our  present  state,  can  hope  to  be. 
And,  while  I  wonder  at  their  blindness  in  not  perceiving  those 
consequences  of  their  system  which  I  have  now  laid  before  you, 
while  I  am  persuaded  that  the  natural  result  of  Calvinism  must  be 
to  sink  some  men  into  utter  despair  and  carelessness  of  living,  and 
to  raise  others  into  the  most  dangerous  self-confidence  and  spiritual 
pride,  I  am  the  more  inclined  to  bless  God  for  the  riches  of  His 
grace,  which  has  kept  the  good  men  from  those  snares  which 
their  opinions  laid  for  them,  and  forbidden  them  to  trust  their 
salvation  to  doctrines  which  they  do  not  act  upon,  though  they 
fancy  that  they  believe  them.  Nor  should  I  have  spoken  thus 
harshly  of  the  doctrines  themselves,  if  it  were  not  fit  that  every 
system  should  be  tried  by  the  fruits,  that  is,  by  the  consequences 
which  flow  from  it. 

"  Still,  however,  it  is  said  (p.  61,)  that  these  doctrines  are, 
absolutely,  taught  in  the  Scriptures.  I  can  only  say,  that  though 
I  have  sought  diUgently,  I  have  never  been  able  to  find  them 
there.  And  if  I  should,  as  I  hope  I  may,  have  an  opportunity  of 
looking  over  with  you  the  different  texts  which  are  generally  sup- 


CRITIQUE  ON  "  SCOTT'S  FORCE  OF  TRUTH."  547 


posed  to  favour  them,  I  have  httle  doubt  of  being  able  to  convince 
you,  that  the  '  election'  there  spoken  of  is  not  immediately  to 
eternal  life,  but  to  the  spiritual  advantages  and  blessedness  which 
a  knowledge  of  Christianity  confers  in  the  present  life,  whereby 
our  progress  to  glory  is  greatly  forwarded,  though  not  rendered 
inevitable  ;  and  that  the  hope  of  their  omti  perseverance  expressed 
by  the  Apostles,  is  of  a  far  more  qualified  cast  than  that  which  is 
now  regarded  by  some  as  a  necessary  mark  of  adoption.  On  the 
other  hand,  I  find  in  every  page  of  the  Sacred  Volume,  the  most 
positive  declarations  that  God's  mercy  is  over  all  His  works  ;  that 
He  '  desireth  not  the  death  of  a  sinner  ;'  that  He  calls  to  all  men, 
'  ^Mly  Anil  ye  die  ?'  that  there  was  a  time  when  even  Judas  had  a 
Heavenly  throne  promised  him ;  and  when  they  who  crucified  Christ 
might  have  '  known  the  tlungs  which  belonged  unto  their  peace  ;' 
that  Chi-ist  ched  for  the  sins  of  all  men,  and  to  the  intent  that  '  all 
might  through  Him  be  saved.'  And  though  so  good  a  man  as 
Mr.  Scott,  nay,  though  an  angel  from  Heaven  should  preach  to  me 
a  doctrine  which,  either  directly  or  by  its  inevitable  consequences, 
contradicts  these  declarations,  I  am  justified  in  saying,  he  shall  not 
be  my  teacher. 

"  And  how  can  Mr.  Scott  fancy  that  the  system  of  salvation, 
through  Christ,  is  incomplete  without  this  monstrous  excrescence  ? 
We  Armmians  believe,  as  firmly  as  he  can  do,  that  man  is,  by 
nature,  in  a  fallen  state  ;  the  slave  of  evil  passions ;  a  prey  to  every 
temptation  which  assails  him ;  and  altogether  unable  to  please 
God  or  merit  Heaven.  We  believe  that  Christ  died  as  a  true 
sacrifice  for  the  sins  of  all  the  world,  and  that  the  only  means 
whereby  we,  to  whom  Christ  is  preached,  obtain  this  salvation,  is 
by  faith  in  His  merits  and  sufferings.  We  believe  that  the  grace 
of  the  Holy  Ghost  is  fi-eely  given  for  Christ's  sake,  to  all  who  hear 
this  Gospel,  whereby  they  are  enabled,  if  they  will,  to  turn  to  Him 
and  be  saved ;  and  we  believe  that  it  is  by  this  grace  only, — for 
a  more  abimdant  measure  of  which  we  are  taught  to  pray  and  use 
our  diligence, — that  we  are  enabled  to  bring  forth  the  fruit  of  good 
works,  to  be  grateful  to  God  in  our  hearts,   and  in  our  lives  to 

4  A  2 


CHAR 
XVII. 
181!). 


548  CRITIQUE  ON  SCOTT'S  "  FORCE  OF  TRUTH." 


(HAP.  show  this  gratitude.  It  is  on  His  righteousness  we  depend ;  it  is 
1819.  from  His  grace  that  we  derive  every  thing  ;  but  we  beheve  that 
we  may,  by  our  neglect  or  misconduct,  forfeit  these  privileges,  and 
cause  this  Divine  help  to  be  withdrawn  from  us;  and  we  are, 
therefore,  the  more  watchful  over  ourselves,  and  the  more  earnest 
in  begging  a  continuance  of  those  bounties  of  which  we  have  not  a 
grant  for  life,  but  which  may  cease  at  any  moment.  And  this  is, 
we  conceive,  all  which  Scripture  has  taught  us  on  the  subject,  and 
and  we  are  sure  that  this  is  enough  for  holiness  in  this  life,  and  for 
our  hope  of  a  better  life  hereafter. 

"  I  have  vuidertaken  only  to  review  Mr.  Scott,  not  to  write 
a  formal  refutation  of  Calvinism.  If  you  wish  to  enquire  into  the 
subject  more  at  large,  you  will  find,  I  think,  convincing  arguments 
in  the  works  of  the  Bishop  of  Lincoln.  There  are  also  some  very 
good  things  in  the  works  of  Mr.  Flechier,  a  Shropshire  clergyman, 
who  was  an  ally  of  John  Wesley,  and  in  an  answer  to  Mr.  Scott, 
which  has  lately  appeared,  by  a  methodist  preacher  at  Shrews- 
bury, named  Brocas.  I  mention  these  two  last  to  show,  that  they 
are  not  only  high  Churchmen  who  think  as  I  do  on  these  subjects. 
Indeed  I  am  far  from  approving  of  the  tone  in  which  many  high 
Churchmen  have  discussed  them  ;  nor  can  I  endure  that  intolerant 
spirit  which  would  deny  the  name  of  Churchman  to  the  Calvinistic 
clergy,  who,  generally  speaking,  I  have  no  doubt  are  as  sincere  as 
we  can  be  in  their  subscription  to  our  articles,  and  the  allegiance 
which  they  profess  to  our  ecclesiastical  governors.  On  the  con- 
trary, it  is  one  of  my  greatest  quarrels  with  the  doctrines  in  ques- 
tion, that  they  have  introduced  strife  and  bitterness  between  those 
whom  every  circumstance  of  unity  of  faith,  unity  of  interest,  and 
similarity  of  piety  and  sincerity,  would  otherwise  have  led  to  love 
and  esteem  each  other.     And  really  when  we  see  such  men  on  the 

one  side  as  Dr.  T- and  Mr.  B ,  whose  lives  have  been 

a  continued  display  of  Christianity  in  its  purest  form ;  as , 

who  gives  up  his  whole  time,  and,  literally,  the  greater  part  of  his 
fortvme,  to  the  promotion  of  God's  service  ;  as  the  Bishop  of  Ches- 
ter, whose  zeal,  earnestness,  and  great  humility  I  have  lately  had 


CRITIQUE  OX  SCOTT'S  "  FORCE  OF  TRUTH."  549 

occasion  to  notice  ;  and  as  my  friend   Pearson,  of  Chester,  whose    t;^^:^^^- 
whole  heart  and  studies  are  engrossed  with  his  profession,   and      ^"'"- 
whose  anxiety  at  this  moment,  though  with  the  fairest  prospects 
at  home,  is  to  be  enabled  to  get  into  some  corner  of  the  world, 
where  he  may  preach  to  the  heathen :  when,  on  the  other  side,  I 

see    my  excellent  friend ,  Mr.  W ,  Mr.  G , 

and  the  Bishop  of ,  can  we  refrain  from  feelhig  a  deep  re- 
gret, that  a  misconception  of  each  other's  religious  principles,  (for, 
in  truth,  the  greater  part  of  those  whom  I  have  last  named  are  not 
Calvinists,)  should  lead  these  men  to  distrust  and  avoid  each  other  ? 
that  the  one  party  should  be  held  up  as  hostile  to  the  progress  of 
religion,  and  the  other  as  fanatics  and  sectaries  ?  To  reconcile  or 
soften  these  unhappy  differences,  so  far  as  my  age  and  situation 
have  given  me  opportunities,  has  been  through  life  the  object  con- 
stantly in  my  view,  and  the  cause  of  several  earnest  and  fruitless, 
labours.  Nor  can  I  close  this  long  letter  without  offering  to  your 
notice  a  few  hints  as  to  the  conduct  which,  while  such  dissentions 
exist,  it  becomes,  in  my  opinion,  a  lover  of  peace  to  pursue.  (The 
remainder  of  Mr.  Scott's  pamphlet  contains  little  to  which  my 
former  criticisms  will  not  apply). 

"  1st.  I  would  Avish  every  one  to  keep  in  mind  the  extreme 
insignificance  of  most  of  those  points  which  are  made  the  bones  of 
contention.  Calvinism,  which  makes  most  noise,  and  is  used  as 
the  general  watch-word,  even  the  Evangelical  party,  as  they  are 
called,  are  by  no  means  agreed  upon ;  and  the  occasions  are  so 
few,  even  in  the  case  of  a  clergyman,  when  it  comes  in  question, 
that  a  man  might  go  through  a  long  and  useful  life,  without  being 
called  on  to  confess  or  abjure  it.  But  the  usual  sources  of  dispute 
and  difference  are  in  things  too  trifling  to  be  reasoned  on,  on  the 
legality  of  cards,  or  public  amusements,  or  whether  it  be  allowable 
to  have  a  hot  dinner  on  a  Sunday,  &c.  &c.  Now  my  own  opinion  on 
these  points  is,  that  they  are  no  where  forbidden  ;  that,  duly  mo- 
derated, they  are  perfectly  harmless,  and  that  it  is  a  return  to  the 
severity  of  the  Mosaic  law  to  teach  the  contrary.  But  on  points 
like  these,  in  God's  name,  let  every  man  enjoy  his  own  opinion ! 


-,:5o  CRITIQUE  ON  SCOTT'S  "  FORCE  OF  TRUTH." 


CHAP.  '  Let  not  him  that  eateth  despise  him  that  eateth  not,  neither  let 
1819.  hixn  that  eateth  not  judge  him  that  eateth.'  The  appellations  of 
irreligious  person  or  fanatic,  are  far  too  serious  to  be  bandied  about 
for  reasons  like  these ;  and  it  is  better  to  shun  such  discussions, 
than  to  run  the  risk  of  unsettling  the  mind  of  our  friend  by  unne- 
cessary scruples,  or  irritating  him  by  ridicule  or  uncharitable 
reflections. 

"  2dly.  To  those  who  are  possessed  of  the  power  to  give 
largely,  I  would  recommend  the  subscribing  to  such  charitable  or 
religious  societies  as  they  think  best,  without  regard  to  party  feel- 
ings. For  instance,  I  would  make  a  point  of  subscribing  both  to 
the  Bible  Society  and  to  the  Society  for  Promoting  Christian 
Knowledge.  But  where  only  one  subscription  can  be  afforded,  I 
would  prefer  the  latter,  both  from  the  double  application  of  its 
funds,  and  because  it  is  a  sort  of  badge  of  our  attachment  to  the 
Church  of  England.  Observe,  however,  that  by  supporting  the 
Bible  Society,  I  do  not  mean  supporting,  either  by  money  or  influ- 
ence, any  of  those  offensive  follies  which  have  been  engrafted  on 
the  original  excellent  institution,  under  the  name  of  Ladies  Bible 
Societies.  These  I  have  always  opposed,  and  always  will  do  so, 
from  being  persuaded  that  they  have  done  infinite  harm  to  our 
good  cause  in  the  minds  of  the  clergy ;  and  that  the  principles  on 
which  they  are  conducted  are  completely  at  variance  with  the 
delicacy  and  retirement  which  become  females. 

"  3dly.  Though  perfect  charity  should  be  observed  towards 
dissenters,  and  though  we  should  be  ready  to  co-operate  with 
them  in  any  good  work,  by  which  the  peculiarities  of  our  Creed  or 
Church  discipline  are  not  compromised,  this  amiable  principle 
should  not  lead  us  to  support  their  missions,  or  attend  their  places 
of  worship.  The  first  is  doing  that  by  an  irregular  method,  for 
which,  in  our  Church  missions,  a  regular  way  is  open  ;  the  second 
I  cannot  consider  in  any  other  light  than  schismatical,  and  there- 
fore sinful.  This  point  you  will  see  treated  of  in  my  ordination 
sermon. 

"  4thly.    Avoid  needless  singularity  of  all  kinds.    The  clergy- 


CRITIQUE  ON  SCOTr'S  "  FORCE  OF  TRUTH."  551 

man  who  dresses  in  a  shovel-hat,  at  an  age  wlien  most  of  his  pro-  ^V)}"' 
fession  wear  a  round  one  ;  the  high  Churchman  wlio  snuffles  in  a  "^"^- 
pompous  tone  through  his  nose  ;  aiid  the  Evangehcal  minister  who 
preaches  extempore,  or  affects  a  particular  manner  of  administering 
the  Sacrament, — all  lose  more  than  they  gain,  by  shocking  the 
prejudices  of  the  weak,  or  atti-acting  the  ridicide  of  the  worldly. 
The  same  may  be  said  of  the  girl  who  covers  up  her  throat  and 
amis  ;  of  the  gentleman  who  affects  unusual  plainness  of  apparel. 
In  exterior,  the  Christian  should  not  be  distinguishable  from  the 
rest  of  the  world ;  and  as  Christ  could  not  mean  His  disciples  to 
be  more  gaily  decorated  than  usual  when  they  fasted,  so,  when  He 
ordered  them  on  those  occasions  to  anoint  the  head.  He  may  seem 
not  only  to  authorize,  but  to  enjoin,  on  all  other  occasions,  a  de- 
cent and  moderate  use  of  such  decorations  as  are  usual  in  our 
country  and  station, 

"  5thly.  Be  not  afraid  to  give  a  reason  for  the  faith  that  is 
in  you,  when  the  occasion  really  calls  for  it ;  but  avoid  disputa- 
tion ;  and  beware  of  laying  too  great  stress  on  things  doubtful,  or 
not  essential  to  salvation.  Beware  how,  by  introducing  such  topics, 
you  unsettle  the  minds  of  your  friends,  and  ]ierhaps  bring  into 
hazard  essential  articles,  or  (what  is  most  essential  of  all)  charity. 

"  6thly.  Give  your  conscience  into  the  keeping  of  no  man  or 
set  of  men,  but  do  what  you  think  right  before  God  without  caring 
whether  or  no  it  is  usually  done  by  the  religious  party  with  whom 
you  are  most  connected.  If  this  were  universally  observed,  avoid- 
ing all  perverseness  or  needless  singularity,  the  spirit  of  party 
would  soon  disappear. 

"  7thly.  Do  not  court  the  notice  of  the  world.  There  are 
many  more  ways  in  which  this  notice  is  sought  for  than  men  at 
first  suppose  ;  and  one  very  common  way  is  courting  persecution, 
by  adopting  language  which  we  know  to  be  the  mere  slang  of  a 
party,  or  practices,  which  we  know  to  be  offensive  to,  or  suspected 
by,  the  generality  of  mankind.  It  is  the  proud  man  who  is 
never  content  to  be  forgotten ;  and,  begging  Mr.  Scott's  pardon, 
something  of  this  sort  seems  visible  in  many  parts  of  his  conduct. 

9 


OO'J 


CRITIQUE  ON  SCOTT'S  "  FORCE  OF  TRUTH." 


CHAP.  He  clunn;,  as  he  himself  tells  us,  to  the  applause  of  his  superiors 
"1819'  for  a  long  time  ;  but,  on  differing  from  them,  he  took  care  to  pro- 
claim the  difference  aloud  ;  and  since  he  could  not  have  their 
praise,  he  endeavoured  to  get  the  praise  of  those  who  were  opposed 
to  them.  The  world,  after  all,  is  generally  too  much  occupied 
\\ith  its  own  concerns  to  pay  any  attention  to  those  who  do  not 
take  some  pains  to  draw  its  notice  to  themselves,  their  merits,  or 
their  sacrifices  ;  and  many  a  man  talks  of  the  obloquy  which  assails 
him,  and  boasts  of  bearing  his  cross,  -whose  name  is  hardly  known 
to  those  whom  he  believes  to  be  wholly  occupied  by  his  concerns. 
If  we  do  our  duty  quietly,  Ave  shall  be  seldom  slandered  or  perse- 
cuted ;  but  if  we  court  persecution  we  shall  often  be  led  to  outstep 
our  duty.  By  observing  such  rules  as  these,  a  man,  indeed,  will 
get  little  or  no  praise  or  renown ;  and  I  do  not  say  that  he  will 
be  in  all  cases  able  to  shun  the  censure  of  one  or  both  of  the 
opposite  parties.  But  though  the  hot-headed,  on  either  side,  will 
dislike  and  suspect,  or  despise  him,  he  may  rest  satisfied  that  he 
does  not  merit  their  ill  opinions,  and  that,  with  the  moderate  and 
judicious,  the  very  contrariety  of  their  slanders  vnll  refute  them 
both,  while  he  will  feel  that  to  be  judged  by  man's  judgement  is 
a  very  slight  thing  to  him  who  is  daily  drawing  nearer  to  that 
time  when  the  voice  of  slander  shall  be  heard  no  more,  and  the 
quiet  sleep  of  the  grave  be  awakened  by  the  sound  of  '  well  done, 
thou  good  and  faithful  servant !' 

"  I  promised  you  a  letter  on  the  subject  of  Mr.  Scott's  book, 
and  I  find  I  have  written  a  volume.  You  will  excuse  its  many 
faults  of  style,  since  I  have  really  no  time  to  correct  it,  or  to  make 
out  a  fair  copy.  My  meaning,  I  hope,  is  tolerably  plain  ;  and  if 
there  are  any  particulars  on  which  you  wish  for  further  information, 
I  will  supply  it  to  the  best  of  my  power.  There  are  few,  indeed, 
of  your  sex  and  age,  to  whom  1  could  have  ventured  to  send  so 
long  a  treatise  on  topics  so  repulsive.  But  you,  I  know,  are 
really  anxious  in  your  search  after  truth,  and  the  subject  having 
been  thrown  in  your  way,  it  is  fit  you  should  know  that  Mr.  Scott 
is  not  unanswerable. 


CRITIQUE  ON  SCOTT'S  "  FORCE  OF  TRUTH."  553 

"  Do  not,  however,  expect  too  much  certamty  on  topics  tHAP. 
which  have  exercised  the  sagacity  of  men  for  many  ages,  without  's'^- 
any  agreement  being  produced  among  them  ;  but  if  you  still  find 
perplexities  beyond  yoiu"  power,  dismiss  them  from  your  mind  as 
things  which  cannot  concern  you.  '  Secret  things  belong  to  the 
Lord  our  God ;'  but  on  the  necessity  of  an  atonement,  on  justifica- 
tion by  faith,  and  on  the  obligation  wliich  Ues  on  us  to  work  out, 
with  fear  and  trembling,  the  salvation  thus  begun  in  us,  no  real 
difficulties  exist,  and  by  these,  on  every  system,  our  entrance  to 
heaven  is  to  be  secured. 

"  That  you,  my  dear  Charlotte,  may  through  life  '  beheve 
and  know  the  things  you  ought  to  do,  and  have  grace  and  power 
faithfidly  to  fulfill  the  same,'  is  the  earnest  prayer  of 

"  Your  sincere  and  affectionate  friend, 

"  Reginald  Heber." 

To 

Hodnet  Rectory,  Nov.  22,  1819. 
"  My  Dear , 


"  I  have  for  some  time  back  felt  anxious  to  write  to 
you,  but  I  was  afraid  of  intruding  too  soon  on  the  sacredness  of  a 
gi'ief  so  deep  and  justifiable  as  yours.  The  excellent  feeling  and 
good  sense  displayed  in  your  letter  to  Emily,  encourage  me  to  do 
so  now,  in  the  hope  that  these  lines  may  catch  you  before  you 
leave  England.  Very  different,  indeed,  are  your  present  circum- 
stances, fi-om  those  under  which  I  last  addi-essed  you  ;  but  different 
as  they  are,  both  dispensations  proceed  from  the  same  good  and 
wise  Parent,  whose  mercy  is  as  certainly,  though,  to  us,  not  so 
visibly  displayed  in  his  chastisements  as  in  his  blessings.  You  3'Our- 

self,  and  yom*  poor were,  I  doubt  not,  as  dear  to  Him,  and  as 

much  the  objects  of  His  care,  when  He  visited  your  house  with 
suffering  and  death,  as  when  He  united  your  hearts  by  mutual 
affection,  and  your  hands  by  a  union  which  promised  a  long  conti- 
nuance of  earthly  happmess.  It  is,  indeed,  impossible  for  us  to 
conjecture  what  merciful  ends  the  Almighty  has  designed  to  bring 
VOL.  I.  4  b 


551  REUNION  OF  SPIRITS  IN  PARADISE. 


CHAP,     to  pass,  by  this  sudden  and  bitter  termination  of  those  dehghtful  pros- 
^819.'     pects ;  but  from  knowing  whose  hand  has  smitten  you,  you  may,  even 
in  your  ignorance  of  His  motives,  rely  on  His  fatherly  love,  and  trust 
that  the  time  will  come  when  such  mysteries  of  Providence  may 
be  made  plain,  and  when  you  may  be  enabled  to  perceive  in  what 
manner  it  has  been  good  for  you  both,  that  you  have  been  afflicted. 
Nor  let  it  be  forgotten  that,  however  long,  and  however  happily 
you  might  have  lived  together,  this  grievous  separation  must,  at 
last,  have  come : — you  must  sooner  or  later  have  mourned  for  him 
or  he  for  you  ;  and  the  years  of  your  conjugal  happiness,  how  nume- 
rous soever,  must  one  day  have  seemed  no  more  than  a  tale  that 
is  told.     All  then  that  a  different  dispensation  of  Providence  woiUd 
have  done  for  you,  would  have  been  either  that  your  husband,  not 
you,  must  have  had  the  misery  of  surviving,  (a  grief  which  you 
know  too  well  to  wish  transferred  to  him)  or  that  the  same  grief 
which  you  now  feel,  would  have  overtaken  you  when  you  were  less 
able  to  bear  it, — when  many  of  those  who  knew  and  loved  him  most, 
and  in  whose  society  you  now  feel  your  best  comfort,   had  them- 
selves dropped  into  the  grave, — when  your  own  health  and  spirits 
had  been  weakened, — ^and  your  habits  of  dependance  on  him  had 
been  still  more  formed,  and  to  be  unlearned  with  greater  difficulty. 
If  you  are  now  solitary,  you  might  then  have  been  still  more  so  ; 
if  you  now  sink  under  the  blow,  it  might  then  have  fallen  upon 
you  still  more  heavily.     It  is,  indeed,  possible  that  your  separation 
from  him  may  endure  some  years  longer  than  if  it  had  taken  place 
later  in  life  ; — but  what  are   a  few  years  in  a  union,  which,  when 
renewed,  is  to  last  for  ever  ?     For  I  am  convinced  that  Paley  is 
right  in  his  34th  sermon,  where  he  lays  down,  on  Scriptural  grounds, 
the  doctrine,  that  those  who  loved  on  earth  are  to  recognise  each 
other  in  Paradise ; — that,  as  David  felt  on  a  similar  occasion,  you 
will  go  to  him  though  he  cannot  come  to  you ;  and  that  every  moment 
passed  in  patience  and  submission  to  the  Divine  will,  brings  you 
nearer  to  him.     You  remember  the  beautiful  lines  in  Southey, — 

Love  is  indestructible  ;  ,_ 

Its  lioly  flame  for  ever  burnetii. 
From  Heaven  it  came,  to  Heaven  retiuneth  ; 


PRAYERS  FOR  THE  DEAD.  555 

Too  oft  on  earth  a  troubled  guest,  CHAP 

At  times  deceiv'd,  at  times  opprest,  jgjg ' 


It  here  is  tried  and  purified, 
Tlien  hath  in  Heaven  its  perfect  rest . 
It  sowetli  here  with  toil  and  care, 
But  the  haiTest  time  of  lo^e  is  there  ! 

"  After  all,  however,  there  is,  I  believe,  no  support  so  certain, 
no  relief  so  immediate  in  distress,  as  that  which  is  derived  from 
prayer.  I  dare  not  counsel  you,  (for  it  is  a  point  on  which  I  am 
extremely  doubtful,  and  for  which  I  confess  I  see  no  sufficient 
authority  in  Scripture)  I  dare  not  counsel  you  to  pray  for  the  dead. 
This  is,  indeed,  a  practice  sanctioned  by  the  immemorial  custom  of 
the  Jews,  by  that  of  the  primitive  Christians  of  at  least  the  third 
century,  and  of  many  good  men  among  the  Protestants  of  later 
times  ;  not  on  any  notion  of  the  pains  of  purgatory,  but  as  believing 
that,  till  the  day  of  judgement,  there  might  be  still  a  possibility  of 
the  prayers  of  the  hving  being  of  advantage  to  those  whom  they 
had  lost.  It  is  true  that  such  prayers  could  not  be  offered  with 
the  same  confidence  of  faith,  which  we  are  authorized  to  feel  when 
we  are  soUciting  promised  blessings  ;  but  I  cannot  think  there  is 
any  crime  in  thus  following  that  instinct  of  our  nature,  which  leads 
us  to  clothe  our  wishes  in  the  shape  oi" p?'at/ej's,  and  to  ask  of  God 
in  behalf  of  those  we  love,  that  He  would  give  them  what  is  best 
for  their  present  condition ;  on  this  point,  however,  you  may 
follow  your  own  persuasion — your  own  feelings  ;  but  however  this 
may  be,  you  are,  at  least,  allowed  and  encouraged  to  pray  to  God 
for  support,  for  consolation  and  grace  ;  and  prayers  of  this  sort,  we 
may  be  sure  are  never  addressed  to  God  in  vain.  '  Heaviness  may 
endm-e  for  a  night,'  but,  if  we  will  but  endm-e  it,  the  darkness  of 
this  world  must  soon  pass  away,  and  a  morning  of  interminable  joy 

must  follow  it.     That  you,  my  dear ■,  may   on  earth  receive 

comfort,  and  in  Heaven  your  reward  with  him  who  has  departed 
fi-om  you  for  a  time,  is  the  earnest  hope  of 

"  Your  affectionate , 

"  Reginald  Heber." 
4  B  2 


556 


CHAP. 
XVII. 
181!). 


JEREMY  TAYLOR'S  WORKS. 

To  the  Hon.  and  Right  Reverend  the  Lord  Bishop  of  Oxford. 

Hodnet  Rectory,  Nov.  23,  1819. 
"  My  Dear  Lord, 

"  I  have  lately  received  an  application  from  Ogle 
and  Duncan,  the  booksellers,  on  the  subject  of  an  edition  which 
they  are  meditating  of  the  complete  and  collected  works  of  Jeremy 
Taylor,  most  of  which  are  now  become  very  scarce,  and  all  only  to 
be   obtained  in  separate  volumes   of  all   sizes  and  descriptions. 
They  design  to  comprise  their  edition  in  fourteen  or  fifteen  hand- 
some octavo  volumes,  and  hope  to  obtain   permission    to   print 
several  unpublished  sermons  of  Taylor's,  which  are  said  to  be  in 
the  library  of  Lincoln  Cathedi-al.     I  have  undertaken,   at  their 
request,  to  furnish  a  life  and  critical  essay  on  his  writings ;  and 
they  have  also  desired  me  to  convey  two  petitions  on  their  behalf 
to  your  Lordship,  and  the  Society  of  All  Souls ;  first,  that  your 
Lordship,  as  warden  of  Taylor's  College,  will  permit  them  to  de- 
dicate to  you  the  first  complete  edition  of  his  works  which  has 
been  attempted ;    and  secondly,   that  they  may  be  permitted  to 
procure   an  engraving  of  the    portrait    of  Bishop   Taylor  which 
Talbot  has  obtained  for  our  hall. 

"  From  all  which  I  have  been  able  to  learn  of  the  character  of 
the  persons  who  make  the  proposals,  I  am  inclined  to  think  very 
favourably  of  their  spirit  and  enterprise,  and  to  hope  that  the 
works  of  our  great  ornament  will  issue  from  their  press  in  a  form 
not  unworthy  of  him,  or  of  your  Lordship,  should  you  permit  them 
to  prefix  your  name  to  their  edition.  I  have  written  to  the  Sub- 
dean  of  Lincoln,  Mr.  Bayley,  on  the  subject  of  the  unpublished 
sermons  ;  and  mean  to  apply  to  Talbot  for  any  information  which 
he  may  be  able  to  obtain  for  me,  from  Taylor's  descendants  in 
Ireland. 

"  Believe  me,  my  dear  Lord, 
"  Your  obliged  and  obedient  humble  servant, 

"  Reginald  Heber.  " 


TRAVELLERS'  CLUB.  557 


To  R.  TV.  Hay,  Esq. 

Hodnet  Rectory,  Dec.  27,  1819. 

"  Will  you  have  the  goodness  to  transmit  the  enclosed  note 
of  thanks  to  the  Travellers'  club,  of  whose  kindness  I  am  very  sen- 
sible, and  only  regret  that  I  am  likely  to  be  so  seldom  able  to  avail 
myself  of  it '.  As  I  suspect  that  it  is  to  yourself  that  I  am  in  a 
gi-eat  measure  indebted  for  the  distinction  conferred  on  me,  pray 
accept  at  the  same  time  my  best  thanks.  Most  heartily  do  I  wish 
I  had  more  frequent  opportunities  of  cultivating  your  society,  and 
that  of  the  friends  who  only  make  me  envy  those  who  spend  a  part 
of  every  year  in  London.  The  scarcity  of  intellect,  at  least  of  a 
particular  kind  of  intellect ;  the  want  of  a  vent  for  one's  reading, 
and,  consequently,  the  want  of  a  stimulus  to  incline  one  to  read, 
I  cannot  help  often  feeling, — though  I  am,  I  believe,  more  favour- 
ably situated  in  these  respects  than  most  men  who  live  so  much  in 
the  country  as  I  do.  My  habits,  indeed,  during  the  latter  part  of 
the  present  year,  have  been  less  intellectual  than  usual,  as  I  have 
had,  from  the  long  illness  of  my  poor  wife,  and  a  consequent  stay 
of  some  months  by  the  sea-side,  both  less  time,  and,  to  say  the 
truth,  less  inclination  for  any  serious  work  than  I  generally  have. 

"  We  are  all  quiet  and  good  subjects  in  these  counties,  so  that 
but  for  newspapers,  and  the  new  volunteer  corps  which  are  raising 
round  us,  we  should  know  nothing  of  the  progress  of  sedition. 
Something  of  the  sort  was,  indeed,  heard  a  little  while  since  in  our 
village  ale-house,  from  a  body  of  the  Chelsea  pensioners  on  their 
way  to  the  depot  at  Shrewsbury.  They  expressed,  I  am  sorry  to 
say,  great  displeasure  at  being  called  out,  and  a  very  decided  ad- 
hesion to  radical  principles.  As  many  of  them  have  been  rambling 
ever  since  their  discharge,  up  and  down  the  disturbed  districts, 

'  By  the  rules  of  this  cUib,  as  originally  estahlished,  the  committee  were  at  liberty  to  invite, 
as  honorary  members,  a  limited  nimiber  of  persons  distinguished  as  travellers,  and  whose  usual 
residence  was  remote  from  London.  Mr.  Reginald  Heber  and  three  others  are  the  only 
English  individuals  in  whose  favour  this  privilege  has  hitherto  been  exercised. — Ed. 


CHAP. 
XVII. 
1819. 


558  MONUMENTAL  INSCRIPTION. 


CHAP,    this  is  not,  perhaps,  very  wonderful ;  bvit  it  is  not  the  less  unfortu- 


XVII. 

1819.'  nate  that  it  has  been  necessary  to  introduce  men  infected  with 
such  a  feeling  into  the  body  of  our  defenders.  It  is  not,  however, 
in  the  army  alone  that  such  a  leaven  has  been  attempted  to  be  in- 
fused. A  friend  of  mine,  on  a  visit  to  one  of  the  officers  of  Admi- 
ral Blackwood's  ship,  happened  to  find  two  men  who  had,  a  few 
days  before,  been  admitted  as  able  seamen,  haranguing  from  a  stool, 
and  distributing  hand-bills  recommending  universal  suffrage.  They 
were,  I  believe,  punished,  and  have  since  deserted,  so  they  will, 
perhaps,  next  try  the  army.  If  they  had  not  been  detected,  they 
would  have  had  time  for  a  good  long  course  of  lectures  during  a 
voyage  to  India. 

"  I  am  very  anxious  to  hear  how  Wihnot  speaks  in  the  house ; 
he  appears  to  rate  himself  very  modestly,  but  I  am  inclined  to 
hope  he  will  eventually  do  extremely  well. 

"  Poor  M — — •  has  found  the  Solicitor-general  even  a  severer 
critic  than  the  Quarterly." 

In  the  Obituary  for  1819,  the  following  monumental  inscrip- 
tion appeared,  which  was  written  by  Mr.  Reginald  Heber : 

To  the  Memory 
of  the 

HONOURABLE  FREDERIC  SYLVESTER  NORTH  DOUGLAS, 

only  son  of 

Sylvester  Baron  Glenbervie 

and  of 

Katherine  Anne,  daughter  of  Frederic  Baron  North,  Knight  of  the  Garter, 

First  Lord  of  the  Treasury,  and  afterwards  Earl  of  Guilford, 

in  whom 

a  short  hut  usefid  and  brilliant  career 

was  eminently  adorned 

by  splendid  talents  and  amiable  manners, 

by  mental  accomplishments, 

by  scientific  attainments, 

and  by  the  highest  pohsh  of  elegant  literature  ; 


MONUMENTAL  INSCRIPTION.  559 


was  honourably  distinguished  chap. 

evil. 

1819. 


by  the  able,  upright,  and  assiduous  discharge  xvii 


of  parliamentary  duties, 

by  an  active,  zealous,  and  enlightened  philanthropy, 

and  by  the  exercise  of  many  public  and  private  virtues ; 

and  was  suddenly  and  awfully  terminated, 

to  tlie  inexpressible  grief 

of  his  surviving  relatives,  and  of  the  inhabitants 

of  tlie  town  which  he  represented, 

among  every  description  of  whom 

he  had  conciliated 

tlie  most  gi-atefid  and  affectionate  respect 

by  his  earnest  and  unremitting  solicitude 

to  promote  the  diffusion  of  Christian  knowledge  and  piety, 

to  improve  the  condition  and  increase  tlie  comforts  of  the  poor, 

and  to  advance  the  general  interests  of  the  neighbourhood. 

He  was  bom  Feb.  8,  1791,  was  elected  member  of  parliament  for  the  borough  of 
Banbmy,  November,  1812,  and  again  elected  for  the  same  place  in  the  following 
parliament;  was  married  July  19,  1819,  to  Harriet,  eldest  daughter  of  AVilliam 
Wrightson,  of  Cusworth,  in  the  county  of  York,  Esquire,  and  died  the  21st  day  of 
the  October  following. 


END  OF  VOLUME  I. 


GILBERT  AND  RIVIXGTON,  PRINTERS, 

ST.  JOHN'S   SQUARE,  LONDON. 


APPENDIX. 


VOL.  I. 


ic 


APPENDIX. 


HISTORY  OF  THE  COSSAKS. 

The  following  history,  on  which  Mr.  Reginald  Heber  was  for  a  consider-    appkn- 
able  time  engaged,  though  circumstances  prevented  its  completion,  is  in-  ==^= 
serted  as  an  appendix  to  the  present  volume,  its  subject  being  incidentally 
connected  with  his  tour  in  the   Crimea,  and  allusions  to  it  being  also 
fi-equently  made  in  the  preceding  pages.     The  memoir  and  correspondence 
will  be  renewed  in  the  second  volume. 


I. — The  spacious  regions  which  form  the  southern  portion  of  the  Russian 
empire,  and  which  the  ancients  comprised  under  the  general  names  of 
European  and  Asiatic  Scythia,  exhibit,  in  an  extent  of  many  thousand 
square  leagues,  so  few  varieties  either  of  soil  or  landscape,  that  he  who  has 
traversed  even  a  small  part  of  this  vast  green  wilderness,  may  form  no  in- 
accurate notion  of  the  whole.  The  traveller  who  approaches  from  the 
north  already  perceives,  in  the  neighbourhood  of  Charkof  and  Pultava,  that 
the  number  and  amplitude  of  the  Musco\ite  forests  have  dwindled  into  a 
few  scanty  groves  and  coppices ;  and  when  he  has  passed  the  Donetz  at 
Izium,  and  crossed  a  lofty  range  of  calcareous  downs,  (which,  if  the 
Riphgean  mountains  were  not  altogether  fabulous,  must  be  supposed  to 
have  received  that  title  from  the  vanity  of  their  ancient  inhabitants  ',)  the 

'  "  Ripliffian  mountains."     The  only  hills  worth  notice  between  Moscow  and  the  Crimea 
are   those  which  form  the  northern  boiuidary  of  the  steppe  of  Tartary.     They  are,  indeed, 

4  c  2 


564  HISTORY  OF  THE  COSSAKS. 


DIX. 


APPEN-  prospect  is  gradually  changed  into  a  bleak,  though  not  sterile  uniformity, 
unshaded  by  trees,  and  unbroken  by  the  plough,  and  affording  in  its  higher 
grounds  and  central  solitudes,  a  very  scanty  supply  to  its  wandering  occu- 
pants, of  brackish  and  unwholesome  water.  The  resemblance  of  the  Tanais 
to  the  Nile  has  been  remarked  by  many  writers ;  but  that  these  ample 
downs,  whither  its  fertilizing  waters  cannot  extend,  have  not  since  dege- 
nerated into  a  desert  like  those  of  the  Thebais,  must  be  ascribed  to  the 
difference  of  latitude,  and  the  beneficial  effects  of  a  four-months'  continued 
snow. 

II. — This  rigour  of  climate  is  so  greatly  at  variance  with  those  inter- 
ested reports  which,  in  the  hope  of  attracting  settlers  to  her  new  dominions, 
were  circulated  by  the  Empress  Catherine ;  and  it  differs  so  widely  from 
that  temperature  which  might  be  supposed  to  exist  in  the  latitude  of  46,  in 
the  same  parallel  with  Lyons  and  Geneva ;  that,  though  the  ancients  ob- 
served and  recorded  it,  the  fact  has  been  very  slowly  admitted  by  the  gene- 
rality of  modern  enquirers.  Even  among  those  who  yielded  a  respectful 
attention  to  the  authority  of  poets  and  historians,  many  have  been  anxious 
to  suppose  that  the  peculiarity  they  describe  had  long  since  ceased  to  exist ; 
and  they  have  deduced  from  this  supposed  difference  between  the  ancient 
and  modern  climate  of  Scythia,  a  proof  that,  by  the  destruction  of  forests, 
the  draining  of  marshes,  and  the  triumphant  progress  of  agriculture,  the 
temperature,  not  only  of  certain  districts,  but  of  the  earth  itself  has  been 
improved  '.  But  how  far  all  or  any  of  these  changes  may  be  able  to  pro- 
duce effects  so  extensive,  as  it  may  reasonably  admit  of  doubt,  so  it  is  in 
the  present  instance  superfluous  to  enquire  ;  since,  in  Scythia,  these  causes 
have  never  operated,  and  no  apparent  melioration  of  the  climate  has  taken 

very  unworthy  of  the  name  of  mountain,  and  by  no  means  answer  to  the  description  by 
Eustathius  in  his  Notes  on  Dionysius.  (p.  45.)  hrt  ev  roLq  'Pt(j>atotc  optmv  ovh-rroTt  x""»' 
txiXeiTret.  There  are,  however,  no  other  hills  in  the  direction  mentioned  by  Ptolemy  ;  nor  can 
I  agree  with  Mr.  Pinkerton,  who,  with  his  usual  hardihood,  assures  us  that  "  the  ancients 
often  confounded  mountains  and  forests  under  the  same  denomination."  (Geography,  vol.  i.) 
In  what  language  the  same  word  serves  for  two  such  different  things,  he  will,  perhaps,  in  another 
edition,  have  the  goodness  to  inform  us.  Forests  are,  indeed,  in  Scythia,  little  more  abundant 
than  mountains  ;  and  it  would  be  necessary  to  advance  a  considerable  way  towards  Moscow 
before  he  would  meet  with  any  very  extensive  one.  Of  the  Riphsean  mountains,  however, 
Herodotus  makes  no  mention  ;  and  Strabo  (lib.  vii.)  treats  as  fabulous,  if  not  the  mountains 
themselves,  at  least  the  manners  of  their  inhabitants.  After  all,  there  are  few  lano-uatres  in 
which  the  relative  size  of  eminences  is  accurately  distinguished,  or  in  which  the  same  name 
would  not  be  used  either  for  Richmond  hill,  or  Snowdon. 
'  Howard's  Theory  of  the  Earth. 

9 


DIX. 


HISTORY  OF  THE  COSSAKS.  565 

place.     The  country  still  continues,  for  the  most  part,  in  the  wild  state    appen- 
painted  by  Herodotus  and  Strabo  ;  and  all  the  countries  bordering  on  the 
Euxine  Sea  are  still  subject  to  an  annual  severity  of  winter,  of  which  (though 
in  a  far  higher  latitude)  the  inhabitants  of  our  own  country  can  hardly  form 
an  idea. 

III. — That  water  freezes  when  poured  on  the  ground ;  that  the  ground 
in  winter  is  muddy  only  where  a  fire  is  kindled ;  that  copper  kettles  are 
burst  by  the  freezing  of  their  contents  ;  that  asses,  being  animals  impatient 
of  cold,  are  found  here  neither  in  a  wild  nor  tame  state,  are  circumstances 
no  less  characteristic  of  Modern  Scythia,  than  of  Scythia  as  described  by 
Herodotus  and  Strabo  '.  Nor  do  I  question  the  authority  of  the  latter, 
when  he  assures  us,  that  the  Bosphorus  has  been  sometimes  so  firmly 
frozen,  that  there  has  been  a  beaten  and  miry  high-way  between  Pantica- 
pgeum  and  Phanagoria ;  or  that  one  of  the  generals  of  Mithridates  gained 
there,  during  the  winter,  a  victory  with  his  cavahy,  where,  the  preceding 
summer,  his  fleet  had  been  successful.  In  the  neighbourhood  of  the  latter 
of  these  towns,  by  the  Russians  since  called  Tmutaracan,  a  Slavonic  inscrip- 
tion has  been  discovered,  which  records  the  measurement  of  these  straits 
over  the  ice,  by  command  of  the  Russian  prince,  Gleb,  in  the  year  1068  ^ 
But  such  events  must,  from  the  force  of  the  current,  have,  at  all  times, 
been  of  rare  occurrence.  By  the  best  information  which  I  could  procure 
on  the  spot,  though  the  straits  are  regularly  so  far  blocked  up  by  ice  as  to 
prevent  navigation,  there  is  generally  a  free  passage  for  the  stream  un- 
frozen. Across  the  harbour  of  Phanagoria,  however,  sledges  are  driven 
with  safety ;  and,  on  the  other  side  of  the  Crimea,  a  Russian  officer  assured 
me  that  he  had  driven  over  the  estuary  of  the  rivers  Bog  and  Dnieper,  from 
Otchakof  to  Kinburn.  But  not  only  straits  and  estuaries,  but  the  whole 
Sea  of  Azoph  is  annually  frozen  in  November,  and  is  seldom  navigable 
earlier  than  April.  In  spring,  so  soon  as  the  ice  is  supposed  to  have 
passed,  a  small  boat  is  sent  by  government  from  Taganrog  to  Kertch,  and 
vice  veTsa ;  and  till  this  proof  of  safety  has  been  given,  no  vessel  is  allowed 
to  sail  from  either  port.  This  sea  is  fished  during  winter,  through  holes 
cut  with  mattocks  in  the  ice,  with  large  nets,  which  are  thrust  by  poles 
from  one  to  the  other ;  a  method  which  has  given  rise  to  Strabo's  exagge- 
rated picture  of  "  fish  as  large  as  dolphins,"  (apparently  meaning  the  bie- 

'  Herod.  Melpom.  28.     Strabo.  L.  vii. 

"  See  the  learned  disputation  of  Count  Alexis  Moussin  Pouschkin  on  the  site  of  Tmutara- 
can.    Petersburg,  I794'. 


566  HISTORY  OF  THE  COSSAKS. 


DIX. 


APPEX-  luga,)  "  dug  out  of  the  ice  with  spades '."  This  remarkable  severity  of 
climate  on  the  northern  shores  of  the  Euxine,  may  induce  us  to  give  a  pro- 
portionate faith  to  what  the  ancients  assure  us  of  its  southern  and  eastern 
shores ;  and  though  Ovid  may  be  supposed  to  have  exaggerated  the  miseries 
of  his  banishment ;  and  though  religious  as  well  as  African  prejudice  may 
have  swayed  Tertullian  in  his  dismal  account  of  Pontus,  it  is  certain  that 
Strabo  can  be  influenced  by  neither  of  these  motives,  where  he  accounts 
for  Homer's  ignorance  of  Paphlagonia,  "  because  this  region  was  inacces- 
sible, through  its  severity  of  climate  K" 

'  Strabo  calls  them  Antacaei.  The  bieluga  is  the  largest  species  of  sturgeon  with  which 
we  are  acquainted,  and  not  unfrequently  measures  twenty  feet  in  length.  The  same  fish  is 
found  in  the  Euphrates,  Tigris,  and  many  other  Asiatic  rivers  ;  but  is  unknown,  I  believe,  to 
the  waters  of  Europe  and  America.  The  isinglass  which  it  furnishes  forms  a  considerable 
article  of  Russian  commerce.  Sterlet  is  another,  though  much  smaller,  fish  of  the  same  genus, 
which  abounds  in  the  Don  and  Dnieper.  A  small  tureen  of  soup,  made  of  this  fish,  has  been 
known  to  cost,  in  Petersburg,  500  rubles.  Potemkin  sent  an  aide-de-camp  express  from 
Moldavia  to  a  famous  cook  at  Moscow,  for  a  pot  of  this  soup.  It  was  brought  to  him,  to  pre- 
vent adulteration,  sealed  up,  with  the  cook's  seal  and  name  on  the  lid. 

^  The  accounts  here  alluded  to  may  seem  to  prove  that  the  severity  of  climate  is  not  con- 
fined to  the  northern  coast.  Making  every  allowance  for  exaggeration,  enough  will  still  be 
left  to  excite  our  wonder.     Ovid  was  resident  south  of  the  Danube. 

"  Nix  jacet ;  et  jactam  nee  sol  pluviaeve  resolvunt ; 
Indurat  Boreas,  perpetuamque  facit. 

Saepe  sonant  moti  glacie  pendente  capilli, 

Et  nitet  inducto  Candida  barba  gelu  : 
Nudaque  consistunt  formam  servantia  testae 

Vina ;  nee  hausta  meri,  sed  data  frusta  bibunt. 

Ipse,  papyrifero  qui  non  angtistior  amne 

Miscetur  vasto  multa  per  ora  freto, 
Caeruleos  ventis  latices  durantibus  Ister 

Congelat,  et  tectis  in  mare  serpit  aquis. 
Quaque  rates  ierant,  pedibus  nunc  itur  ;   et  imdas 

Frigore  concretas  ungula  pulsat  equi." 

Tristium,  Lib.  iii.  El.  x. 

In  another  place  he  comments  with  equal  bitterness  on  the  want  of  trees  : 

"  Quoque  loco  est  arbor,  turgescit  in  arbore  ramus  ; 
Nam  procul  a  Geticis  finibus  arbor  abest." 

Ih'id.  Lib.  iii.  El.  xii. 


HISTORY  OF  THE  COSSAKS.  567 

IV. — To  account  for  this  phenomenon  is  far  more  difficult  than  to  esta-   appen- 


blish  its  existence ;  and  the  difficulty  is  greater,  because  none  of  those 
theories  by  which  the  problems  of  climate  have  been  usually  solved,  will, 
in  the  present  instance,  apply.  In  elevation  above  the  sea,  which,  when 
considerable,  is  an  obvious  and  inidoubted  cause  of  cold,  the  downs  of 
European  Tartary  do  not  exceed  those  of  England.     Forests,  the  removal 

Mr.  Pinkerton  liad,  apparently,  forgotten  this  last  passage,  when,  after  observing  that 
"  we  read  of  battles  on  the  ice  of  the  DanuVie  in  Roman  times,"  (where  do  we  read  this  ?)  he 
proceeds  to  assure  lis  that  "  this  prodigious  river  was  then  surrounded  by  enormous  forests, 
which  shaded  and  chilled  all  around."  (Dissertation  on  the  Goths,  P.  I.  c.  iv.  p.  44.)  This 
is,  indeed,  a  very  common  errour,  but  it  is  an  errour  notwithstanding.  The  banks  of  the 
Lower  Danube  appear  to  have  been  naked  of  trees. 

The  language  of  TertuUian  in  describing  the  climate  of  Pontus,  is  more  forcible:  "  Dies 
nunquam  patens  ;  Sol  nunquam  libens,  iiniis  aiJr,  nebula  totus  annus,  hybernum  omne  quod 
flaverit,  aquilo  est.  Liqiiores  ignibus  redeunt ;  amnes  glacie  negantur  ;  montes  pruina  exagge- 
rantur  ;  omnia  torpent;  omnia  rigent !"  (Tertull.  adv.  Marcionem,  lib.  i.  1.)  But  Pontus 
was  the  country  of  the  heretic  Marcion,  and  had,  therefore,  perhaps  no  chance  of  being  praised. 
Ovid  was,  at  all  events,  an  eye-witness. 

About  the  year  1780,  on  the  banks  of  the  Liman,  or  estuary  of  the  Dniester,  a  tomb,  of 
workmanship  evidently  Grecian,  was  discovered  by  a  very  intelligent  Dutch  officer  in  the 
Russian  service,  General  Wollant,  a  friend  and  correspondent  of  the  lamented  Mr.  Tweddell. 
This  tomb,  among  the  usual  contents  of  a  sepulchre,  offered  a  small  female  bust  of  burnt  clay, 
and  exquisite  workmanship,  which  certain  antiquaries  at  St.  Petersburg,  including  in  their 
number  the  Empress  Catherine,  discovered  to  bear  a  wonderful  likeness  to  the  medals  of 
Julia,  the  daughter  of  Augustus.  So  picturesque  an  incident  was  not  to  be  neglected  ;  and  it 
was  inferred  (taking  for  granted  the  vulgar  story  that  Ovid's  intrigue  with  Julia  was  the  cause 
of  his  banishment,)  that  this  was  the  tomb  of  tliat  unfortunate  bard.  This  opinion  was  backed 
by  several  notable  arguments.  First,  it  is  plain  from  Ovid's  Tristia  that  he  was  dissatisfied 
with  his  residence  at  Tomis,  south  of  the  Danube,  and  therefore  it  was  very  probable  that  he 
would  travel  for  change  of  air  ;  and  whither  so  likely  as  to  the  Tyras,  one  hundred  and  forty 
miles  northward,  and  in  so  pleasant  a  country  as  Scythia  ?  Besides,  as  Tomis  was  a  garrison 
town,  and  often  besieged  by  the  Sarmatians  and  Getae,  what  more  natural  than  that,  for  the 
sake  of  repose  and  safety,  he  should  go  still  farther  into  the  enemy's  country  ?  Particularly  as 
at  Tyras  a  Roman  colony  was  established  by  Trajan,  which  must  have  been  a  great  protection 
and  comfort  to  a  sick  man  in  the  days  of  Augustus.  Finally,  because  he  had  a  friend  in 
Cotys,  king  of  Thrace,  he  chose  to  reside  out  of  his  protection  in  Sarmatia. 

I  have  given  these  arguments,  I  hope  not  unfairly,  as  they  may  be  drawn  from  Guthrie's 
Letters,  (pp.  433-4.)  as  they  afford,  perhaps,  a  curious  specimen  of  the  antiquarian  spirit  which 
has  hitherto  been  exerted  on  Scythia.  It  is  but  justice  to  Dr.  Guthrie  and  General  Wollant 
to  observe,  that  this  mass  of  evidence  was  far  from  convincing  either  of  them.  The  empress, 
however,  decided  the  tomb  to  be  Ovid's  property,  and  the  neighbouring  fortress  still  bears  his 
name,  7 


DIX. 


5G8  HISTORY  OF  THE  COSSAKS. 

APPEN-  of  which  has,  in  many  countries,  been  supposed  to  diminish  frost ',  have 
°^^'  here  never  existed  ;  and  though  the  custom  of  burning  the  withered  grass 
in  spring,  which  has  been  for  so  many  centuries  the  only  secret  of  Scythian 
husbandry,  may  have  produced  in  many  parts  of  this  vast  pasture,  a  con- 
siderable deposit  of  saltpetre,  it  is  not  easy  to  suppose  with  Gibbon,  that 
a  cause  like  this  can  produce  such  bitterness  of  wind,  or  such  unvarying 
rio-our  of  winter  ^  It  may  be  observed,  however,  (and  the  observation, 
though  it  will  not  solve  the  difficulty,  may  perhaps  direct  our  attention  into 
the  right  train  of  enquiry,)  that  it  is  only  in  comparison  with  the  more 
western  parts  of  Europe,  that  the  chmate  of  Scythia  is  a  subject  of  sur- 
prise ;  and  that  in  each  of  the  two  great  continents  we  discover,  in  our 
progress  eastward,  along  the  same  parallel  of  latitude,  a  sensible  and  uni- 
form increase  of  cold.  Vienna  is  colder  than  Paris,  Astrachan  than  Vienna ; 
the  eastern  districts  of  Asia  are  incomparably  colder  than  Astrachan  ;  and 
Choka,  an  island  of  the  Pacific,  in  the  same  latitude  with  Astrachan  or  Paris, 
was  found  by  the  Russian  circumnavigators  in  1805,  exposed  to  a  winter  even 
longer  and  more  severe  than  is  commonly  felt  at  Archangel.  In  America 
the  same  marked  difference  is  observed  between  the  climate  of  Nootka  and 
Hudson's  Bay ;  and  even  in  so  small  a  scale  of  nature  as  that  afforded  by 
our  own  island,  the  frosts  are  generally  less  severe  in  Lancashire  than  in 
the  East  Riding  of  Yorkshire.  If,  then,  the  southern  districts  of  European 
Russia  be  exposed  to  a  winter  more  severe  than  those  of  France  or  Ger- 
many, they  may  boast  in  their  turn  a  more  genial  climate  than  the  banks 
of  the  Ural  and  the  Amur ;  while  all  are  subject  to  a  dispensation  of  nature 
which  extends  too  far,  and  acts  too  uniformly,  to  be  ascribed  to  any  local 
or  temporary  causes. 

V. — Nor  is  this  length  and  bitterness  of  winter  without  its  own  advan- 
tages, which,  by  the  never-failing  compensation  of  nature,  suffice  to  recon- 
cile the  Scythian  to  his  climate,  and  to  make  that  very  climate  necessary 
to  his  comfort  and  prosperity.  The  hardened  crust  of  snow,  which  trans- 
forms every  track  into  a  natural  rail-road,  by  the  cheap  and  rapid  intercourse 
it  offers  between  Petersburg  and  Odessa,  Poland  and  China,  repays  most 

'  In  the  time  of  Herodotvis  the  Scythians  were  accustomed  to  burn  the  bones  of  the  animals 
which  they  had  killed,  in  order  to  cook  the  meat,  "  the  country  being  miserably  bare  of  wood — 
aivois  a£,v\ov  eovatjg." — Melpom.  61 . 

^  Gibbon's  Decline  and  Fall,  chap.  xxvi. 


HISTORY  OF  THE  COSSAKS.  569 

amply  the  necessity  of  warmer  clothing '.  A  severe  frost  is  most  advan-  appen 
tageous  to  the  fisheries  of  the  Palus  Masotis  and  the  Don ;  and  the  driest  —'~- 
deserts  receive  from  the  annual  melting  of  the  snow  a  supply  of  luxuriant 
herbage  for  herds  of  cattle,  the  numbers  of  which  a  western  European 
would,  perhaps,  with  difficulty  conceive.  No  country  is  more  abundant  in 
animals  than  Scythia.  The  fisheries  of  the  Tanais  supphed  the  Roman 
world ;  nor  is  it  easy  to  set  a  limit  to  the  numbers  which  may  be  here- 
after supported  by  the  fish  now  piled  up  as  useless,  and  suffered  to  infect 
the  air  in  every  Cossak  \'illage,  and  round  the  black  tents  of  the  Calmuks. 
From  the  south  of  Russia  are  sent  almost  all  the  hides  and  tallow  consumed 
in  Europe ;  and  so  numerous  are  their  herds  in  comparison  to  the  popula- 
tion, that  at  Charkof,  in  1805,  the  market-price  of  beef  was  about  a  farthing 
the  English  pound,  while  at  Voronetz,  as  I  was  credibly  assured,  the 
whole  ox  was  sometimes  thrown  into  the  caiddron,  to  avoid  the  labour  of 
separating  the  tallow  from  the  nseless  Jlesh.  The  Cossak  and  Malo-Russian 
drovers  make  their  annual  journeys  even  so  far  as  the  heart  of  Germany,  of 
Avhich  country,  and  its  language,  I  found  many  who  had  acquired  a  know, 
ledge,  as  travellers,  which  has  doubtless  been  highly  advantageous  to 
them  in  the  late  war.  Nor  can  it  be  questioned  that,  to  the  habits  of  ram- 
bling thus  acquired,  their  consequent  indifference  to  home,  their  famiharity 
\\\i\\  horses,  and  their  experience  of  moving  in  large  bodies,  (circumstances 
which  always  make  a  grazing  district  a  valuable  nursery  for  soldiers,)  as 
much,  perhaps,  as  to  any  peculiarities  in  their  government  and  discipline, 
the  miUtary  prowess  of  the  modern  Cossak  may  be  ascribed. 

VI. — It  is  not  true,  however,  that  agriculture  is  entirely  neglected. 
On  the  northern  shoi'e  of  this  great  sea  of  land,  the  Malo-Russians,  an  in- 
dustrious and  frugal  race,  are  gradually  reclaiming  a  considerable  tract  to 
the  purposes  of  tillage,  and  every  year  thrusting  their  hamlets  still  further 
into  the  desert.  Now,  as  in  the  time  of  Herodotus,  a  part  of  the  south- 
ern wanderers,  though  despising  bread  as  an  article  of  food,  are  accustomed 
to  raise  grain  for  exportation.  Some  miserable  villages  of  French  and  Ger- 
man emigi-ants  were  established  on  the  Dnieper  by  Catherine,  and  the 
Cossaks  have  reared  on  the  banks  of  the  Don  a  few  precarious  vineyards. 
But  to  any  great  extension  of  agriculture  in  the  interior,  the  want  of  timber 
presents,  as  yet,  an  insuperable  obstacle,  since  not  only  shelter  and  the 

'  This  facility  of  intercourse  is  noticed  by  Herodotus,  Melp.  28. — Ext  tov  upvaraXKov 
o'l  evroQ  Ta<ppov  XKvdrti  KarotKifiiti'oi  (rrpartvoyrai,  Kat  rag  ct^a^ac  (TrcXavrovcri  TTiprfV  eg  rovg 
^H'covg, 

VOL.  I.  4  D 


570  HISTORY  OF  THE  COSSAKS. 

APPEN-  means  of  enclosure  are  denied,  but  also  the  commonest  implements  of  hus- 
"'^'  bandry  are  to  be  procured  or  replaced  from  a  distance.  On  the  banks  of 
the  Don  or  Dnieper,  where  the  forests  of  the  north  are  easily  floated  down 
in  rafts,  this  want  is  not  perceptible  ;  but  in  the  higher  country,  and  even 
in  the  towns  of  the  Crimea,  it  every  where  occurs  to  the  traveller's  notice. 
The  vilest  and  most  insufficient  substitutes  for  fuel,  bent-grass,  rushes,  the 
dung  of  animals,  are  painfully  collected  and  preserved  with  care  '.  The 
tent  of  the  Calmuk  (a  work  of  singular  beauty  and  ingenuity)  is  constructed 
of  sticks  no  larger  than  a  common  fishing-rod.  The  Cossaks  of  the  steppe, 
(for  so  these  grassy  deserts  are  called)  who,  though  gi-aziers,  are  never 
wanderers,  lodge  in  damp  and  smoky  dens,  sunk  below  the  level  of  the 
soil — the  walls  of  earth,  the  roof  of  sod,  externally  resembling  oblong  bar- 
rows ;  while,  not  only  the  beams  for  their  roofs,  and  the  wood  for  their 
waggons,  but  even  those  lances  which  have  so  gloriously  vindicated  the 
liberties  of  Europe,  are  mostly  of  exotic  gi'owth,  and  the  produce  of  distant 
forests. 

VII. — Another  impediment  to  agi'iculture  is  found  in  the  swarms  of 
locusts  which,  at  various  intervals,  have  ravaged  many  parts  of  Scythia : 
their  numbers  and  appearance  in  the  air,  which  they  almost  darken,  was 
described  to  me  by  an  eye-witness  of  one  of  their  visits,  as  a  scene  of  sin- 
gular awfulness  and  horror.  They  are  ruinous  indeed  to  the  pasture,  as 
well  as  to  the  corn-land ;  but  a  tribe  of  herdsmen  has  more  power  than  a 
race  of  husbandmen  to  avoid  the  spot  of  their  depredations  ;  and  the  means 
employed  to  stop  their  progress  are  less  injurious  to  grazing  than  to  arable 
districts.  It  is  singular  that  the  ancient  accounts  of  Scythia  make  no  men- 
tion of  these  devouring  insects ;  and  it  may  be  feared  that  their  flights  have 
been  for  many  years  extending  graduaUy  westward.  Should  France  be- 
come subject  to  their  annual  inroads,  our  channel  would,  with  a  fair  wind, 
be  but  an  insignificant  barrier. 

VIII. — Salt,  of  an  excellent  quahty,  but  which  the  inhabitants  know 
not  how  to  fi-ee  from  its  impurities,  is  taken  in  prodigious  quantities  from 
the  Sea  of  Zabasche,  and  the  numerous  brackish  lakes,  Caspian  Seas  in 
miniature,  which  are  found  in  this  great  plain.  Coal,  a  pit  of  which  would 
be  more  valuable  than  a  gold-mine,  is  found  near  Lugan  ;  but  the  quantity 

At  Taganrog,  though  a  sea-port,  and  enjoying  an  easy  communication  with  the  Don  and 
Donetz,  fire-wood  cost,  in  1806,  thirty  rubles  the  stack  of  seven  feet  cube.  The  ruble  was 
then  worth  2s.  Sd.  English ;  and  this  was  at  a  place  where  the  best  beef  was  bought  at  three- 
half-pence  the  pound. 


HISTORY  OF  THE  COSSAKS.  571 

as  yet  discovered  is  not  more  than  sufficient  to  supply  the  neighbouring    appen- 
foundery.     Manufactures  cannot  exist  to  any  great  extent ;  yet  the  felts  ■■ 

made  here  are  of  various  colours,  and  so  remarkable  for  their  softness  and 
thickness,  as  to  be  sent  into  Turkey,  M^here  they  are  used  as  carpets.  A 
considerable  quantity  of  brandy  is  distilled  at  Rostof  and  Taganrog  from 
the  sirup  of  grapes,  and  other  fruits  imported  from  Trebizond  and  Sinope. 
The  Cossaks  have,  indeed,  for  many  years  been  anxious  to  estabhsh  vine- 
yards, but  the  frost  has  repeatedly  destroyed  them ;  and  even  in  the  most 
auspicious  seasons,  I  can  give  no  favourable  account  of  the  wines  either  of 
the  Don  or  the  Crimea.  The  composition,  called  Donskoy  wine  in  Russia, 
which  my  fiiend  Dr.  Clarke  has,  not  without  reason,  applauded,  is  made, 
as  I  was  given  to  understand,  of  the  foreign  sirup  of  grapes  already  no- 
ticed, and  of  wine  fi'om  the  Dardanelles  and  Archipelago,  of  which  many 
tons  are  annually  brought  by  Greek  and  Turkish  vessels  to  the  harbour  of 
Taganrog.  Strabo  has  remarked  that  the  inhabitants  of  the  Bosphorus 
were  accustomed  to  bury  their  vines  in  winter '.  I  do  not  believe  that  the 
Cossaks  of  the  present  time  do  so  ;  yet  it  seldom  happens  that  an  invention 
so  simple  and  advantageous  is  lost  by  a  nation.  But  the  Bosphorites  have 
been  long  since  expelled,  and  those  who  came  in  their  place  were  better 
skilled  in  destruction  than  in  restoration.  It  must  not  be  omitted,  in  the 
description  of  Scythian  industry,  that  the  Tartar  tovras  of  Batchiserai  and 
Karasubazar  are  still  renowned  for  their  manufactories  of  leather  and  steel ; 
and  that  the  late  Chevalier  Gascoigne  had  estabhshed  a  cannon-foundery  at 
Lugan,  on  the  Donetz ;  while  the  stuffs  and  trinkets  of  the  east  and  west 
appear,  as  in  a  common  centre,  and  in  considerable  abundance,  in  the  ba- 
zars of  Tcherkask  and  the  Armenian  settlements  of  Nakitchovan. 

IX. — To  the  happiness  and  political  importance  of  these  wide  coun- 
tries, the  mighty  streams  which  at  considerable  distances  intersect  them, 
contribute  too  greatly  to  be  passed  over  in  silence.  Of  these,  the  most 
celebrated  in  ancient  times,  though  in  modern  days  not  of  equal  renovra,  is 
the  Donetz,  or  Danaetz,  which,  and  not  the  Don,  as  is  vulgarly  supposed, 
was  apparently  the  Tanais  of  the  Greeks,  and  the  reputed  border  of  Eu- 
rope ^  When  I  myself  passed  this  least  of  the  Scythian  waters  between 
Smiof  and  Izium,  though  at  a  considerable  distance  from  its  mouth,  and 
though  the  annual  inundation  had  already,  at  that  date,  (the  29th  of  March,) 

'  Strabo,  lib.  vii. 

'  Clarke's  Travels,  vol.  i.  p.  306.     See  also  his  map  of  the  common  embouchure  of  the 
Donetz  and  the  Don. 

4  D  2 


DIX 


572  HISTORY  OF  THE  COSSAKS. 

APPKN-  in  part  subsided,  it  still  covered  an  expanse  of  two-thirds  of  an  English 
mile '.  The  water  was  then  much  discoloured,  and  the  stream  violent ;  but 
the  fertility  and  rankness  of  vegetation  which  it  causes  is,  by  the  accounts 
of  the  neighbouring  peasants,  little  less  than  Egyptian.  The  same,  or  still 
greater  expanse  of  inmidation ;  the  same  muddy  fertility,  and  swarms  of 
fish  which  could  neither  be  numbered  nor  exhausted,  we  afterwards  found 
to  characterize  the  Don ;  and  the  two  rivers  united  form  a  delta  of  marshy 
islands,  in  extent  not  inferior,  perhaps,  to  that  of  the  Nile,  and  susceptible 
of  equal  cultivation ;  but  abandoned  now  to  reeds,  and  infection,  and 
noxious  insects,  or  affording,  at  most,  a  shelter  to  wild  boars  and  deer. 
Westward  of  the  Crimea,  the  Bog  and  Dnieper,  (the  Hyparis  and  Borys- 
thenes  of  antiquity,)  united  at  their  mouths  like  those  already  mentioned, 
enclose,  like  them,  a  number  of  islands,  and  diffuse  fertility  by  their  annual 
overflowings  of  melted  ice  and  snow,  while  their  course  and  depth  are  far 
more  favourable  to  the  purposes  of  foreign  intercourse.  The  other  rivers 
are  of  less  importance. 

X. — The  inhabitants  of  Scythia  ofFei',  at  the  present  day,  a  very  sin- 
gular and  varied  pictm-e,  to  form  the  groups  of  which,  almost  all  the  nations 
of  both  east  and  west  appear  to  have  furnished  contingents.  It  has  been 
well  observed  by  the  most  animated  of  modern  travellers,  that  in  the 
streets  of  a  single  city  we  may  recognize  "  Circassians,  Malo-Russians  and 
Russians,  Tartars,  Poles,  Greeks,  Turks,  Calmuks,  and  Armenians,"  speak- 
ing their  respective  languages,  dressed  in  their  national  habits,  and  affording 
a  prospect  which,  in  richness  and  variety,  transcends  a  Venetian  carnival  ^ 
But  amid  this  chequered  crowd,  the  three  leading  and  most  powerful 
branches  are  always  strongly  distinguishable,  varying  from  the  rest,  and 
from  each  other,  in  features,  language,  dress,  and  religion — the  Cossak,  the 
Calmuk,  and  the  Nogay. 

XI. — The  first  of  these  presents  a  style  of  feature  perfectly  European : 
an  open  comitenance  ;  a  complexion  not  so  fair  as  the  northern  nations, 

■  The  ferry-boat  in  which  I  crosed,  was  a  double  canoe,  like  those  of  the  South  Sea 
islanders ;  each  canoe  hollowed  from  a  single  tree,  and  the  pair  connected  by  a  platform  of 
spars  and  planks,  eight  feet  across,  on  which  the  carriage  stood.  It  was  rowed  by  four  men 
with  paddles.  The  fioiolvXa,  or  canoes  of  a  single  tree,  have  in  all  ages  been  characteristic 
of  these  rivers.  The  double  canoe  is  a  modern  improvement.  In  the  time  of  Rubruquis, 
they  ferried  over  a  cart  by  putting  one  wheel  in  one  boat,  and  another  in  a  separate  one,  and 
the  two  were  then  lashed  together  by  ropes. 

'  Clarke's  Travels,  vol.  i.  p.  336. 


HISTORY  OF  THE  COSSAKS.  573 

but  clearer  and  more  florid  than  the  Spaniards,  Itahans,  or  French  ;  the    appen- 

.  DIX. 

eyes  are  generally  hazel ;  the  nose  snaall  and  turned  up  ;  the  hair  black  or  ==-= 
auburn,  with  a  strong  natural  curl.  Their  limbs  are  remarkably  well 
turned,  and  they  are  almost  as  active  and  indefatigable  on  foot  as  on  horse- 
back. From  time  immemorial  they  have  lived  in  fixed  habitations  ;  have 
preferred  bread  as  an  article  of  food ;  and  have  been  dexterous  and  hardy 
boatmen,  both  on  the  rivers,  the  banks  of  which  they  inhabit,  and  amid 
the  storms  of  the  neighbouring  Euxine.  Like  the  Russians  they  are  Chris- 
tians of  the  Greek  communion  ;  and  their  language,  as  I  understood  fi-om 
many  persons  in  the  country,  and  as  has  been  since  confirmed  to  me  by 
Captain  Lisiansky,  (himself  a  Malo-Russian,  and  their  neighbour,)  is  a 
pm"er  Slavonic  than  is  now  spoken  either  by  the  Russians,  Poles,  or  Bohe- 
mians. 

XII. — The  Calmuks  are  a  race  as  different  from  the  Cossaks  as  one 
human  being  can  be  supposed  to  differ  from  another.  Their  complexion 
is  swarthy,  nearly  approaching  to  copper,  but  which  does  not  prevent  a 
warm  and  healthy  tinge  from  appearing  on  the  cheeks  of  their  younger 
females.  Their  noses  are  broad  and  depressed  at  the  point ;  their  faces 
broad,  and,  even  in  youth,  often  wrinkled  ;  the  eyes  long  and  narrow, 
and  the  eyebrows  fomi  the  same  angle  Avith  the  nose  which  is  visible  in 
the  Chinese,  whom,  in  many  respects,  they  much  resemble.  Their  hair 
is  coal-black,  lank,  and  strong  as  horse-hair,  but  their  chins  are  seldom 
ornamented  with  a  beard.  They  are  strong,  broad-set,  and  hardy ;  both 
men  and  women  excellent  riders,  but  on  foot  by  no  means  nimble,  and 
their  legs  are,  for  want  of  walking  exercise,  not  well-proportioned  to  their 
muscular  and  fleshy  bodies '.  Their  dispositions  are  remarkably  sanguine 
and  lively,  their  countenances  intelligent,  and  they  are  said  to  delight  in 
music  and  poetry  to  a  degree  of  enthusiasm  resembhng  what  is  told  of  the 
Arabs.  Their  usual  musical  instrument  is  a  kind  of  lute,  and  they  have 
large  and  hoarse-toned  trumpets,  which  are  chiefly  used  in  their  religious 
ceremonies.  Though  a  wild,  they  are  not  an  uninstructed  race ;  few  en- 
campments are  without  a  schoolmaster ;  and  the  leisure  of  a  pastoral  life 
has  rendered  writing,  reading,  and  the  study  of  history  more  universal 

'  The  correspondence  between  this  picture  and  that  drawn  by  Ammianus  MarcelHnus, 
(Hb.  xxxi.  §  2.)  is  very  striking ;  and  apparently  sufficient  to  prove  that  the  Huns  and  Cal- 
muks were  the  same  race  ;  a  supposition  confirmed  by  the  traditions  of  the  latter,  who  often 
boast,  as  I  was  assured  by  many  who  had  conversed  with  them,  that  their  ancestors  formerly 
subdued  the  world. 


574  HISTORY  OF  THE  COSSAKS. 

APPEN-  among  them,  than  among  the  peasants  of  most  European  countries.  They 
"'^'  ,  are  said  to  make  good  soldiers,  and  have  at  present  the  same  weapons  and 
privileges  as  the  Cossaks  ;  but  they  never  serve  on  foot,  and  their  dishke 
to  the  sea  amounts  almost  to  abhorrence.  All  are  irreclaimable  wanderers, 
detesting  the  confinement  of  a  house,  and  the  insipidity  of  bread  and  vege- 
tables. Their  food  is  raw  flesh  and  the  granulated  butter  of  the  east ;  their 
drink  milk  or  melted  tallow,  and  the  fermented  milk  of  mares',  which,  since 
their  abode  in  Russia,  they  have  learnt  the  pernicious  art  of  distilling  into 
brandy,  and  to  which  they  sometimes  add  the  luxuries  of  tea  and  hydromel. 
They  are  wealthy  in  camels,  horses,  and  horned  cattle,  as  well  as  in  the 
large  broad-tailed  sheep,  which  are  common  in  all  the  countries  of  Asia. 
These  tails,  when  produced  on  table,  where  they  are  considered  a  luxury, 
are  little  less  than  an  ordinary  shoulder  of  mutton  ;  their  substance  is  nearly 
of  the  same  consistence  with  the  udder  of  a  cow ;  and  they  drag,  as  the 
animal  walks,  so  completely  on  the  ground,  that,  to  save  them  from  this 
painful  friction,  a  little  sledge,  or  board  with  rollers,  is  often  fastened  to 
them. 

XIII. — Of  the  tents  of  this  wandering  race,  the  lightness  and  elegance, 
combined  with  firmness  and  warmth,  are  well  worthy  the  traveller's  notice. 
Those  which  I  saw  were  a  circle  of  slender  rods,  of  which  the  lower  ends 
were  fixed  in  the  earth  in  a  sloping  direction,  so  that  the  upper  parts  crossed 
each  other  in  chequer-work,  like  a  Chinese  railing  ;  while  their  tops  were 
connected  with  horizontal  sticks,  like  those  called  "  bales"  by  cricket- 
players,  extending  from  one  to  another,  and  tied  on  with  thongs,  or  the 
tendons  of  animals.     From  this  cornice,  which  is  about  four  feet  from  the 

'  The  "  koumiss,"  or  fermented  milk,  has,  in  all  ages,  been  a  characteristic  Scythian 
dainty.  "  They  diet,"  says  Strabo,  (lib.  vii.)  "  on  horseflesh,  mare's  milk  cheese,  and  milk  vine- 
§■'"■>  — okiyaXa — TovTo  Be  Kai  oiprjfia  ttrriv  avTOig  KaraaKevaadev  7rw£. — I  find  no  mention  of 
mare's  milk  distilled  into  brandy  in  Rubruquis,  and  suppose,  therefore,  that  it  is  of  later  in- 
vention than  his  time.  The  method  of  making  the  koumiss  is  very  simple.  The  milk,  warm 
from  the  mare,  is  mingled  with  a  sixth  part  of  warm  water,  and  about  a  twelfth  part  of  very 
sour  cow's  milk,  or  the  acid  lees  of  a  former  brewing.  The  mixture  is  then  agitated  in  a 
churn,  (a  leathern  sack  answers  the  purpose  with  the  Calmuks,)  and  then  put  in  a  warm  place 
to  ferment  for  about  twenty-four  hours.  They  are  careful  from  time  to  time  to  renew  the  agi- 
tation, and  break  the  scum  which  rises  to  the  top,  which  it  is  necessary  to  blend  intimately 
with  the  rest  of  the  fermenting  mass ;  and  thus  a  heady  and  well-tasted  liquor  is  obtained,  in 
high  repute  both  among  the  Cahnuks  and  Cossaks.  Cow's  milk  does  not  contain  sufficient 
saccharine  matter  to  ferment  in  this  manner ;  and  though  one  of  the  Nogay  tribes,  according 
to  Pallas,  has  succeeded  in  distilling  it  into  brandy,  it  only  yields  one  ninth  of  its  quantity  in 
ardent  spirit ;   whereas  mare's-milk  produces  at  least  one-third. 


HISTORY  OF  THE  COSSAKS.  575 

ground,  a  number  of  rods  arise,  like  the  ribs  of  an  umbrella,  connected  in    appen- 
the  centre  by  a  stout  circular  hoop,  which  thus,  like  the  Foramen  of  the  == 
Pantheon,  was  supported  above  the  middle  of  the  dome,  and  became,  so  to 
say,  a  key-stone  to  the  whole  rotunda.     The  frame-work  thus  completed^ 
is  covered  with  a  hood  of  thick  felt,  and  a  low  turf  wall  which  surrounds 
the  edifice,  about  eighteen  inches  high,  contributes  to  keep  the  house  warm, 
and  the  covering  in  its  place.     The  circle  of  sticks  is  so  far  incomplete  as 
to  leave  room  for  an  entrance,  and  this  is  covered  by  a  loose  flap  of  the 
same  material  with  the  hood.     The  central  hoop  serves  as  both  window 
and  chimney ;  but  when  their  miserable  fire  is  burnt  to  a  red  heat,  the 
inhabitants  carefully  close  this  orifice  with  a  piece  of  felt,  and  confine  as 
much  as  possible  of  the  precious  warmth  within  their  dwelling.     The  furni- 
ture, it  may  be  easily  supposed,  is  not  very  costly.     Some  felt-cai-pets,  a 
mattrass,  a  tea-equipage  of  coarse  china-ware,  a  lance  and  carbine,  .a  few 
leathern  sacks  and  copper  kettles,  and  a  little  estabhshment  of  idols,  com- 
pose, in  general,  their  only  magnificence. 

XIV. — These  Calmuks',  who  are  divided  into  the  four  great  famihes 
of  Gluts,  Torgouts,  Dersets,  and  Soungars,  are  the  latest  of  all  the  nations 
who  passed  from  Asia  into  Eastern  Europe  ;  and  they  only  separated  them- 
selves from  their  countrymen  of  the  Contaisch,  or  central  kingdom  of  Tar- 
tary,  about  the  middle  of  the  seventeenth  century.  -  Their  subsequent 
fortunes  have  been,  on  the  whole,  neither  brilhant  nor  peaceable.  They 
were,  during  many  years,  engaged  in  constant  feuds  with  their  Cossak  and 
Nogaian  neighbours;  and  at  length,  in  1770,  the  tyranny  of  a  Russian 
governor  induced  no  fewer  than  90,000  tents,  or  famihes, — the  flower  of 
their  nobility,  their  priesthood,  and  their  warriors, — to  emigrate  once  more 
into  the  deserts  now  subject  to  China,  and  solicit,  in  the  language  of  return- 
ing prodigals,  the  protection  of  their  "  father,  Kien-Long."  They  were  at 
first  received  with  all  the  politic  kindness  which  the  interest  or  apprehen- 
sions of  the  court  of  Pekin  would  naturally  show  to  a  race  of  warriors  thus 
nmnerous,  whose  lances  and  firelocks  were  equally  formidable  to  Chinese 

'  Calmuk,  I  am  informed  by  tlie  Rev.  Mr.  Pinkerton,  whose  extensive  knowledge  of  the 
Mongolian  and  Tartar  dialects,  I  have  already  mentioned,  means  in  the  Tartar  language, 
"  Refuse,"  or  "  Worthless  ;"  and  was  originally  applied  to  the  Gluts  by  their  neighbours  as  a 
term  of  contempt.  At  present,  however,  like  many  other  names  of  the  sort,  it  is  no  longer 
used  reproachfully,  and  the  modern  Gluts  have  no  objection  to  be  thus  called. 

'  Des  Guignes,  torn.  iv. 

1 


57fi  HISTORY  OF  THE  COSSAKS. 

APPEN-  and  Tartars.  The  histoiy  of  their  emigration  was  engraven  on  marble ; 
Pt^-  their  princes  were  honom-ed  with  the  buttons  and  badges  of  Mandarins ; 
and  lands  were  assigned  for  their  pasturage,  in  the  most  fertile  districts  of 
Tartary.  By  degrees,  however,  they  were  rendered  hable  to  suspicious  and 
vexatious  superintendance.  On  plausible  pretexts,  their  princes  were  de- 
tained at  Pekin,  while  the  people  were  divided  (for  the  convenience  of  nou- 
rishing them)  into  different  regions  of  the  empire :  and,  if  those  fugitives 
may  be  credited,  who  have  found  means  to  retrace  their  steps  to  their 
former  habitations  on  the  Volga,  the  Torgouts  now  regret,  under  the  jea- 
lous patronage  of  the  Mantchoos,  the  more  tolerable  bondage  of  Russia. 
From  the  latter  power,  those  who  remain  under  its  dominion  are  not  at 
present  subject  to  any  vexation.  They  amount  to  thirty  thousand  families, 
or  about  150,000  souls,  of  whom  a  seventh  part  are  converted  to  Chris- 
tianity '.  The  remainder  still  follow  the  religion  of  the  Delai  Lama  ;  and 
a  nuncio  from  Tibet  had,  when  I  was  at  Tcherkask,  but  recently  quitted  the 
neighbouring  encampment.  A  few  months  afterwards,  my  friend,  Mr. 
Charles  Vaughan  ^,  now  Secretary  of  Legation  at  Madrid,  whose  Persian 
Travels  are  still,  alas !  unpublished,  met  this  Tibetian  ecclesiastic  at  Astra- 
chan.     He  was  regarded  by  the  Torgouts  as  too  holy  to  touch  the  ground  ; 

'  The  Christian  Calmuks  have,  in  another  respect,  departed  from  the  customs  and  preju- 
dices of  their  ancestors.  They  have  become  fishermen  ;  and  their  black  tents  are  seen  pitched 
among  the  reeds  and  mud  of  the  Don,  close  to  the  water's  edge.  This  situation  not  being 
favourable  for  camels  or  horses,  they  transport  their  tents  and  families  from  place  to  place  in 
large  boats,  one  of  which  appears  to  be  the  joint  property  of  many  families.  Some  of  them  I 
saw  in  the  act  of  removal,  which  afforded  a  most  curious  groupe.  The  filth  and  stench  were 
terrible.  The  whole  Delta  of  the  Don,  with  all  its  streams  and  marshes,  is  absolutely  poisoned 
with  dead  fish.  A  Calmuk  fisherman,  out  of  a  prodigious  haul, — as  the  salting  or  drying  fish 
is  expensive,  and  as  it  is  some  labour  to  select  and  throw  back  into  the  river  the  useless  fish 
while  they  are  yet  alive, — allows  more  than  half  to  rot  on  the  beach.  If,  indeed,  these  dung- 
hills grow  so  fast  around  his  hut  that  the  stench  annoys  him,  (and  to  annoy  a  Calmuk  it  must 
be  what  the  Knight  of  the  Burning  Pestle  calls  "  a  most  valiant  stink  indeed,")  he  shovels  the 
dead  fish  into  the  river. 

While  going  by  water  from  Tcherkask  to  Azoph,  I  was  wind-boimd  in  the  neighbourhood 
of  one  of  these  encampments ;  and,  after  repeated  attempts  to  obtain  water  which  was  not 
loathsome  both  to  sight  and  smell,  I  abandoned  in  despair,  though  very  thirsty,  the  idea  of 
making  tea,  or  diluting  the  brandy  from  the  mighty  river  which  extended  around  us.  These 
Calmuks,  though  they  have  no  objection  to  the  navigation  of  the  river,  are  never  known  to  go 
to  sea,  or  enter  into  the  service  of  the  traders  at  Tcherkask  or  Taganrog, 

'  The  Right  Honourable  C.  R.  Vaughan,  now  (1830)  His  Britannic  Majesty's  Minister 
to  the  United  States. 


HISTORY  OF  THE  COSSAKS.  577 

and  when  he  visited  the  Russian  governor,  was  carefully  carried  up  stairs    appen- 
by  attendant  lamas.  =^ 

XV. — The  Tartars,  or  Nogays,  (the  origin  of  which  last  name  will  be 
explained  in  the  course  of  this  work,)  are  the  most  numerous,  and  were, 
till  the  Russian  conquest,  the  dominant  race  in  this  country.  They  derive, 
as  is  well  kno\vn,  their  descent  from  one  of  the  tribes  who  followed  Zingis 
Khan,  and  regard  themselves  as  the  elder  branch  of  that  mighty  family,  of 
which  the  Turks  are  only  cadets.  In  person,  habits,  and  tempei-,  they  differ 
widely  from  the  Calmuks.  Their  faces,  indeed,  are  generally  broad,  and 
their  eyes  small,  but  their  complexions  are  fairer ;  their  eyelids  and  eye- 
brows resemble  those  of  Western  Europe  ;  their  noses  are  universally  aqui- 
line, and  their  chins  tolerably  provided  with  a  curly  beard.  Unlike  the 
Calmuks,  who  have  no  wheel-carriages,  and  whose  tents  are  taken  to  pieces 
and  packed  up  on  the  back  of  a  camel  at  every  removal  of  the  family,  the 
Nogays  have  their  huts  mounted  on  wheels,  and  drawn  from  place  to  place 
by  oxen,  buffaloes,  or  camels.  Many  of  them  have,  in  the  Crimea,  aban- 
doned their  wandering  and  nomadic  habits ;  and  others,  in  the  neighbour- 
hood of  Marinopol,  though  disliking  bread  themselves,  have  no  objection, 
as  has  been  already  noticed,  to  the  labours  or  profits  of  husbandry.  Their 
persons  are  generally  tall  and  large,  of  a  kind  which  promises  more  strength 
than  agihty  or  endurance ;  their  tempers  are  grave,  gentle,  and,  from  want 
of  adequate  motives  to  exertion,  indolent.  They  speak  a  dialect  of  the 
Turkish  language,  and  are  zealous  professors  of  Mahomedanism.  Their 
origin  and  history,  as  well  as  those  of  the  Cossaks,  will  occupy  irmch  of 
this  treatise ;  though  it  is  remarkable  that  neither  of  the  races  which  now 
chiefly  possess  the  country,  can  be  any  otherwise  regarded  than  as  among 
the  last  of  a  long  train  of  successive  invaders,  by  whom  Scythia  has,  from 
the  earliest  periods  of  pi'ofane  history,  been  ravaged. 

XVI. — No  district  in  the  world  has  more  or  surer  marks  of  the  pro- 
longed dominion  of  mankind,  than  the  wastes  over  which  the  reader  has 
been  conducted.  Besides  the  deep  black  mould  impregnated  with  saltpetre, 
which  is  the  common  soil  of  the  valleys,  and  evinces  the  annual  decompo- 
sition of  vegetable  matter  by  the  fires  of  many  successive  generations,  the 
ancient  proprietors  of  the  country  have  pro\ided  for  their  own  remembrance 
by  monumental  structm'es  of  the  most  durable  form  and  material.  The 
whole  vast  solitude  from  the  Dnieper  to  the  Donetz,  and  from  Bakmuth  to 
the  golden  gate  of  the  Crimea,  is  like  one  unbounded  cemetery,  thickly 
spotted  over  with  sepulchres.  No  towns,  no  villages,  no  solitary  farms,  no 
VOL.  I.  4   E 


578  HISTORY  OF  THE  COSSAKS. 

AFPEN-  Muscovitish  domes  or  Turkish  minarets,  distract  the  attention  from  these 
°''^-  rude  memorials  of  a  forgotten  race  ;  and  the  herds  of  cattle  which  seem  to 
own  no  master ;  the  marmots  which  whistle  around  our  feet ' ;  the  eagles 
which  scarcely  notice  our  approach  ;  and  the  sepulchres  of  various  forms 
which  rise  on  every  side,  impress  the  traveller,  at  times,  with  an  awful  and 
singular  sensation,  as  if,  of  human  beings,  the  dead  only  were  the  occupants 
of  Scythia. 

XVII. — Some  of  these  tombs  are  mere  conical  barrows,  of  a  character 
too  vague  to  afford  any  clue  to  their  founders,  inasmuch  as  they  are  the 
common  kind  of  tomb  erected  by  barbarians  in  every  age  and  country,  and 
may  be  referred,  with  equal  probability,  to  the  most  remote  antiquity,  or  to 
the  Calmuks  of  the  last  century.  In  many  of  them  gun -barrels  have  been 
found,  which  identifies  them  with  the  last-named  people;  while  some, 
which  contain  vaults  roofed  with  stone,  may  be  ascribed,  with  more  proba- 
bility, to  the  early  Grecian  colonists.  Others,  however,  there  are,  of  which 
Rubruquis  noticed  great  numbers  in  his  journey  from  the  Crimea  to  the 
Don,  and  which  Mr.  Thornton  and  myself  found  in  equal  abundance  on 
the  downs  between  Bakmuth  and  Ivanovna,  which  differ  widely  from  every 
other  ancient  memorial  in  the  world.  They  consist  of  a  tumulus  of  sohd 
earth,  surmounted  by  one  or,  more  frequently,  two  statues,  from  five  to  six 
feet  high,  representing  male  or  female  figures  in  a  sitting  posture,  naked, 
except  the  loins ;  the  head  covered  with  a  ponderous  cap,  or  turban,  a 
massive  necklace  hanging  over  the  bosom,  and  a  small  drinking-cup  at  the 
girdle.  Though  rudely,  they  are  not,  considering  their  apparent  antiquity, 
contemptibly  executed  ;  and  are  by  far  the  most  interesting  objects  which 

'  An  excellent  description  of  these  marmots,  from  the  suroke,  as  large  as  a  common 
terrier,  down  to  the  diminutive  suslik,  is  given  by  Dr.  Clarke,  (vol.  i.  p.  248,  4to.  edit.)  The 
voice  of  the  suslik  is  a  shrill  Vifhistle,  more  resembling  tlie  note  of  a  bird  than  any  sound 
uttered  by  a  quadruped.  They  are  very  nimble  and  lively,  and  difficult  to  be  shot,  as,  while 
the  herd  is  feeding,  there  are  some  who  seem  to  act  as  sentinels,  and  on  the  first  whistle  tlie 
whole  army  disappears  into  their  burrows  *.  Eagles  are  also  very  common  on  the  more  ele- 
vated parts  of  the  steppe,  though  Strabo  denies  that  they  are  found  there.  He  is  guilty  of  an 
opposite  errour  in  peopling  these  wilds  with  a  fabulous  animal  named  colos,  which  carries  a  stock 
of  water  in  its  head  ;  and  with  the  onager,  or  wild  ass.  It  is  possible  that  by  the  onager  he  means 
the  wild  horse,  which  is  still  occasionally  met  with,  and  resembles,  to  a  careless  observer,  an  ass 
more  than  a  horse. 


•  For  a  further  account  of  the  suslik,  by  Mr.  Reginald  Heber,  see  p.  213. — Ed. 


HISTORY  OF  THE  COSSAKS.  579 

excite  the  traveller's  attention  during  his  iom-ney  over  these  wearisome    appen- 

,  DIX. 

lawns.  === 

XVIII. — To  ask  the  history  of  these  monuments  from  the  Calmuks, 
the  Torgorts,  or  the  Nogays,  would  be  about  as  useless  as  to  interrogate 
the  bones  which  they  cover ;  and  though  the  greater  number  of  travellers 
have  noticed  and  described  them,  nothing  can  be  more  unsupported  and 
vague  than  the  conjectures  which  have  been  produced  as  to  their  origin. 
If,  with  Dr.  Guthrie ',  who  agrees  with  Pallas  and  Gmelin,  we  ascribe  their 
erection  to  the  Huns,  it  is  strange  that  no  images  of  the  same  kind  are 
found  in  countries  where  that  people  made  a  longer  stay  than  in  European 
Scythia ;  or  that  the  Calmuks,  a  race  of  Hunnish  extraction,  and  whose 
customs  and  religion  have  remained  unchanged  from  a  very  remote  anti- 
quity, should  not  have  retained  the  practice.  Dr.  Guthrie,  indeed,  lays 
considerable  stress  on  the  hkeness  of  these  images  to  the  ancient  descrip- 
tions of  Hunnish  deformity,  and  to  a  supposed  testimony  of  Ammianus 
Marcellinus  concerning  them.  But,  between  the  modern  Calmuks,  at 
least,  and  these  images,  (though  I  have  seen  more  specimens  of  both  than 
Dr.  Guthrie,)  I  could  certainly  perceive  no  striking  resemblance ;  nor,  in 
their  present  defaced  and  weather-beaten  state,  can  they  be  said  to  afford  a 
tolerable  representation  of  any  variety  of  the  human  countenance.  The 
Doctor's  reference  to  Ammianus  Marcellinus  is  a  still  more  curious  speci- 
men of  his  antiquarian  judgement  and  critical  acumen.  "  Ammianus,"  he 
tells  us,  "  speaks  of  these  very  same  statues  in  the  fifth  century,  which,  he 
says,  are  true  representations  of  the  Hunnish  face."  This  citation,  given 
without  naming  either  book  or  page,  long  perplexed  me,  and  I  have  been 
at  length  compelled  to  conclude,  that  the  passage  alluded  to  is — "  Hunno- 
rum  gens,  monumentis  veteribus  leviter  nota,  ultra  paludes  Maeoticas  gla- 
cialem  Oceanum  accolens  omnem  modum  feritatis  excedit  ^"  These  words, 
by  the  help  of  a  little  bad  construing,  may,  no  doubt,  be  rendered,  "  The 
nation  of  the  Huns,  easily  knoum  from  the  ancient  monuments  beyond  the 
Pains  Ma^otis"  &c.  The  same  objection  which  forbids  us  to  consider  the 
Huns  as  the  authors  of  these  sepulchres,  must  also  militate  against  the 
Cumani ;  and  we  have  the  testimony  of  Rubruquis  to  show  that  they  ex- 
isted at  the  first  arrival  of  the  Mongolian  tribes  in  Europe,  so  that  these 
last  are  likewise  excluded  from  all  claim. 

'  Letters  on  the  Taurida,  Appendix,  p.  409. 
'  Ammian.  Marcel,  lib.  xxxi.  §  2. 

4  E  2 


580  HISTORY  OF  THE  COSSAKS. 


DIX. 


APPEN.  XIX.— The  cup,  however,  suspended  from  the  girdle  of  each,  which  all 

,  observers  have  noticed,  and  none  have  hitherto  explained,  affords  a  sufficient 
clue  to  their  history.  It  was  the  known  symbol  which  the  Scythians  in- 
herited from  Hercules,  and  which  all  their  nations  wore  thus  fastened,  in 
token  of  descent  from  him  \  The  allegory  or  fable  on  which  Herodotus 
grounds  this  custom,  I  shall  certainly  not  attempt  to  unravel ;  but  the 
custom  for  which  it  endeavours  to  account  is  not  without  its  interest,  and 
may  almost  identify  these  singular  memorials  with  "  those  sepulchres  of 
their  fathers,"  for  which  alone  the  Scythians  told  Darius  they  thought  it 
worth  their  while  to  contend  ^ 

That  any  now  existing  are  so  old  as  the  Persian  invasion,  I  will  not 
certainly  maintain ;  though  to  monuments  of  this  kind  a  duration  almost 
indefinite  may  be  ascribed  in  a  country  so  thinly  inhabited,  and  where 
loneliness  of  situation  is  a  better  safeguard  than  all  the  care  of  superstitious 
or  antiquarian  affection.  But  that  these  are  of  Scythian  origin,  no  reason- 
able doubt  can,  I  think,  be  enteilained. 

XX. — But  though  these  images  be  the  only  monuments  which  bear 
certain  evidence  of  their  great  antiquity  (for  I  dare  not  affirm  that  the 
vallum  near  Iski-Crim,  or  the  similar  work  on  the  Isthmus  of  Perekop,  are 
the  same  which  Herodotus  mentions  under  the  name  of  Cimmerian  walls  ^) 
the  Scythians  whose  ashes  they  cover,  were  not  the  earliest  occupants  of 
the  country.  The  Cimmerians,  or  Czemraeg,  who  in  almost  all  Europe 
have  composed  the  advanced  guard  of  colonization,  and  have  every  where 
been  compelled  to  fly  still  further,  or  to  retire  into  mountains  and  wilder- 
nesses before  the  succeeding  waves  of  fiercer  or  more  numerous  tribes,  have 
left  their  name,  if  we  believe  Herodotus,  affixed  to  the  Bosphorus,  or  ferry 
of  the  Palus  MfBotis,  and  to  a  region,  apparently  the  Iski-Crim  of  modern 
times.  On  the  approach  of  the  Scythians  they  appear  to  have  yielded 
without  a  struggle ;  the  major  part  of  the  nation  retreating  through  Colchis 
into  Asia  Minor,  while  some  of  the  boldest,  as  there  is  reason  to  suppose, 
maintained  their  ground  in  the  mountains  of  the  Crimea.  The  Tauri  (a 
name  derived  from  the  Celtic  word  Tor,  a  rock  or  headland)  were  re- 
nowned, like  the  Druids,  for  their  bloody  sacrifices  ;  they  are  expressly 

En  Kai  ec  toSc  (piaXag  ek  Ttav  ^oxrTripiov  <popeiiv  SuruSac. — Melp.  10. 

Et  ^£  Ceot  Trai'Twe  fc  rovro  Kara  ra^og  airi.KyeicrOai,   ruy^aiouffi  j/yi/ii'  eoyreg  TA<I>OI   IIA- 
TPiilOI,  (fiepzTc,  rovTovs  avEvpovrtQ,  ffuyj^tEtj-   Tretpaade   avrovc,   i:ai.   yvwaiadi   Tore,    eire   iifiiv 
fia-xriaofiida  irepi  rwy  Ta<j}wt',  eire  Km  ov  juoxfJco^fSa. — Melpom.  127. 
'  Herod.  Melp.  12. 


DIX. 


HISTORY  OF  THE  COSSAKS.  581 

called  by  Herodotus  a  nation  distinct  from  the  Scythians  ',  and  even  at  the  appkx 
present  day,  the  florid  complexion,  the  blue  eyes,  and  curhng  auburn  hair 
of  many  of  these  mountaineers  are  a  presumptive  evidence  of  their  pedigree  ^ 
Of  the  fugitives  into  Asia,  a  part  at  least  possessed  themselves  of  the 
country  round  Sinope  ;  and  however  inferior  they  might  be  to  the  Scythians, 
were  so  formidable  to  their  new  neighbours,  that  they  had  nearly  reduced 
the  whole  of  Asia  Minor,  and  laid  siege  to  the  citadel  of  Sardis  itself '. 
How  long  their  ravages  continued  we  know  not ;  but  we  learn  from 
Herodotus  that  they  were  driven  at  length  beyond  the  Halys  by  Halyattes, 
king  of  Lydia.  It  is  not  impossible  (and  the  conjecture,  if  confirmed  by 
future  discoveries,  may  tend  to  clear  up  a  very  obscure  portion  of  historical 
geogi-aphy)  that  vestiges  of  their  language  and  physiognomy  may  be  found 
among  the  yellow-haired  tribes  of  the  country  between  the  Caspian  and 
Euxine  *,  and  in  the  name  of  Albyn,  or  Albania,  affixed  during  many  ages 

'  TlapaTT\r]ina  -avrj;  Kai  o'l  Tai/poi  yejioirai  tijq  2t;uOc»:7)g  clc  £'  'US  ATTiKrjg  aWo  edvog  icat  utf 
A6r)yaioi  I't/ioiaTO  rot'  yovt'ov  rnv  XovftaKoy. — Melpom.  99. 

^  The  Nogays  regard  these  mountaineers  as  a  distinct  race  from  themselves  ;  and  instead 
of  Tartar,  call  them  by  the  contemptuous  diminution  of  Tat.  Dr.  Pallas,  to  whose  hospitality 
and  conversation  all  travellers  into  these  countries  are  indebted,  assured  me  that  their  language 
differed,  in  many  respects,  from  that  of  the  other  Tartars,  which,  as  well  as  their  fair  complexion, 
he  was  inclined  to  ascribe  to  a  mi.xture  of  Gothic  blood.  The  Goths,  indeed,  did,  in  small 
numbers,  occupy  some  of  the  mountain  villages  in  the  time  of  Rubruquis  ;  but  among  those 
of  whom  I  am  now  speaking.  Dr.  Pallas  was  not  able  to  mention  any  Gothic  words  as  still  pre- 
valent, nor  did  any  such  fall  under  my  own  observation,  tliough  1  was  not  unable  to  judge  of 
any  striking  similaritj'  either  to  the  German  or  Swedish  languages.  I  was  ignorant,  however, 
of  Turkish  ;  and  was  at  that  time  too  young  and  too  little  experienced  in  such  enquiries  to  liave 
either  power  or  inclination  to  pursue  tliem  properly.  If  we  recollect  the  lengtli  of  time  during 
which  the  Celts  have,  under  circumstances  not  dissimilar,  maintained  their  national  and  sepa- 
rate existence  among  the  rocks  of  Cornwall,  Wales,  and  Biscay,  it  cannot  be  thought  impro- 
bable that  we  should  also  find  some  relics  of  them  among  the  modern  inhabitants  of  the 
Crimea 

^  Herod.  Clio,  15,  16  ;   Melpom.  12. 

'  The  beautiful  Circassian  prisoner  described  by  Dr.  Clarke,  (Vol.  i.  p.  378,)  liad  light 
brown  hair  ;  and  she  who  was  offered  for  sale  in  1788  to  the  German  merchant  Keeling,  had 
fair  hair  and  light  blue  eyes.  (Guthrie's  Taurida,  p.  153  )  The  same  features,  in  which  many 
of  these  mountaineers  are  strongly  contrasted  with  the  neiglibouring  nations,  are  also  noticed 
by  other  travellers.     Those  whom  I  fell  in  with  had  dark  hair  and  complexions. 

The  name  of  Albania  has  been  often  considered  merely  as  a  corruption  of  Alania,  and 
deduced  from  those  Alani  who  were  driven  southward  by  the  Huns.  But  three  hundred  years 
before  the  time  of  Attila's  invasion,  and  wliile  the  Alani  were  far  to  the  north,  Strabo  places 
the  Albani  among   these  mountains ;  and  these   two  nations  are  expressly  distinguished  from 


58-2  HISTORY  OF  THE  COSSAKS. 

APPEX-  to  the  Hill  comitrij  of  Caucasus,  as  Iberia  (a  word  also  of  Celtic  derivation) 
==^  was  to  the  district  adjoining  the  Fords  of  the  Araxes  and  Cyrus.  The 
kings,  however,  of  the  Cimmerians,  (for,  like  many  other  nations  of 
antiquity,  they  appear  to  have  had  several  possessed  of  joint  authority,) 
did  not  so  easily  concur  in  the  apprehensions  of  their  people.  When 
these  last  had  determined  to  fly  before  the  Scythians,  the  kings,  preferring 
death  to  the  infamy  of  deserting  their  country,  fell  each  on  the  others 
sword,  and  were  buried  by  their  nation  on  the  banks  of  the  Dniester,  where 
their  tumulus,  which  certainly  existed  in  the  time  of  Herodotus,  may  pro- 
bably yet  reward  the  enquiries  of  future  travellers  \ 

XXI. — This  invasion  of  Asia  is  placed  by  Herodotus  in  the  time  of 
Ardys,  son  of  Gyges,  king  of  Lydia,  who  began  to  reign,  according  to  most 
chronologers,  in  the  year  before  Christ,  680.  And  as  it  is  apparent,  from 
the  circumstances  mentioned,  that  the  prior  expulsion  of  the  Celts  from 
the  northern  shores  of  the  Euxine  was  atchieved  by  the  Scythians,  without 
any  difficulty  or  protracted  struggle,  we  cannot  well  assign  an  earlier  date 
than  the  above  for  the  arrival  of  this  last  named  people  from  the  east. 
A  far  more  ancient  residence  in  Europe  is  claimed,  indeed,  for  the  Scy- 
thians by  many  learned  men  of  modern  times,  who  are  anxious  to  derive 
from  their  lineage  some  of  the  earliest,  as  well  as  the  most  illustrious 
tribes  of  the  west,  and  to  refer  to  them  as  to  a  common  storehouse  of 
nations — the  Goths,  the  Germans,  the  Thracians,  the  Greeks,  and  the 
Italians.  Now,  as  all  these  nations,  except  the  two  first,  are  known  to 
have  existed  as  flourishing  and  populous  communities  for  at  least  a  thou- 
sand years  before  the  date  at  which,  if  we  beheve  Herodotus,  the  Scythians 
first  drove  their  waggons  eastward  of  the  Tanais,  it  must  follow  either  that 
Herodotus  is  incorrect  in  his  statements,  or  that  the  Scythians,  who  ex- 
pefled  the  Celts,  had  been  preceded  by  other  tribes  of  the  same  nation, 
who,  at  some  very  remote  and  unknown  period,  had  colonized  the  coun- 
tries above  enumerated ;  or,  lastly,  that  the  above  hypothesis  is  at  least  so 
far  incorrect,  as  it  derives  the  three  last-named  nations  from  the  wanderers 
of  Scythia.  But  that  Herodotus  could  be  mistaken  as  to  the  date  of  the 
Cimmerian  inroad,  which  had  occurred  in  times  so  near  his  own,  and  by 
which  his  own  country  of  Asiatic  Greece  had  so  materially  suffered,  is  a 
supposition  which  will  not  be  very  readily  entertained.     Nor,  when  the 

each  other  by  Ammianus  Maicellinus.      (Strabo,  lib.  viii.    Ammian.  Marcel,  lib.  xxvii.  c.  12  ; 
xxxi.  c.  2.) 

'  Herod.  Melp.  12. 


HISTORY  OF  THE  COSSAKS.  583 

same  historian  ascribes  the  Celtic  migration  to  a  cause  so  probable  and  so  appen- 
obvious,  as  their  own  previous  expulsion  from  their  former  possessions  by  a  ^=^= 
barbarous  enemy,  can  any  sufficient  reason  be  assigned  for  doubting  the 
accuracy  of  his  information.  And  his  authority  is,  on  all  which  relates  to 
the  north-eastern  parts  of  the  world,  so  infinitely  superior  to  that  of  suc- 
ceeding historians,  that  some  very  strong  reason  must  be  assigned,  to 
induce  us  to  transfer  our  faith  from  him  to  the  inconsistent  and  improbable 
compilations  of  Diodorus  and  Troyus  Pompeius. 

XXII. — That  the  Scythians  were  an  ancient  nation,  though  asserted 
in  the  vague  eulogia  pronounced  on  them  by  Justin  and  Diodorus,  was  not 
the  tradition  either  of  the  Scythians  themselves,  or  of  the  Greeks  in  the 
time  of  Herodotus.  The  Scythians  esteemed  themselves  the  most  recent 
of  mankind,  and  reckoned  but  ten  centuries  from  the  time  of  their  mytho- 
logical ancestor,  Targitaus,  to  the  invasion  of  their  country  by  Darius  Hys- 
taspes ' ;  a  lapse  of  years  too  insignificant  to  ascend  to  the  date  of  the 
ancient  Pelasgi,  or  greatly  to  exceed  the  foundation  of  the  kingdom  of 
Argos.  The  Greeks,  so  far  from  reverencing  them  as  the  elder  branch  of 
the  Pelasgian  or  Hellenic  family,  were  content  to  ascribe  their  origin  to  a 
casual  amom*  of  Hercules,  himself  of  Pelasgian  race,  and  whom  they  de- 
scribed as  wandering  into  these  vast  and  uninhabited  plains  for  the  first 
time,  on  his  return  from  a  western  expedition  -.  These  stories,  it  is  true, 
are  mythological ;  but  they  plainly  prove  that,  neither  in  the  minds  of  the 
Scythians  or  of  the  Greeks,  was  there  any  suspicion  that  the  last  were  a 
colony  of  the  former.  And  though  the  scene  of  the  Scythian  theogony  be 
laid  in  the  neighbourhood  of  the  Borysthenes,  (a  circumstance  which  might 
at  first  induce  us  to  suspect  that  the  Scythians  were  more  ancient  in  Eu- 
rope than  Herodotus  wll  allow,)  yet  is  it  no  unusual  occurrence,  that  bar- 
barous nations  should  transfer  the  fables  which  they  are  taught  to  revere, 
from  one  situation  to  another,  as  they  themselves  have  altered  their  place 
of  abode.  The  scene  of  the  death  of  Adonis,  at  first,  perhaps,  celebrated 
on  the  Ganges,  was  laid  successively  in  Phoenicia  and  Cyprus ;  and  three 
different  caves  in  Arcadia  and  Crete  were  assigned  as  each  the  only  real 
cradle  of  the  infant  Jupiter.  What  wonder  then  that  the  story  of  Targitaus, 
the  offspring  of  the  water  and  the  air,  and  his  three  sons,  among  whom  the 

'  Fcyovevai  [iev  vvy  a<(ieaQ  (occ  Xcyovtri  o'l  EcuOai'  trta  ct  c^i,  ETrtt  rt  ycyoiittri,  ra  avfx- 
iravra  \tyovai  e'lvai  utto  tov  TrpwTov  /3a<TiX»joc  Tapyiraou  ec  Tr)v  Aaptiov  Cia/^ciiro'  r/jy  ivi  atptac, 
■^i\i(t)v  ov  TrXto),  aWa  roaavTa, — Herod.  Melp.  7. 

=  Herod.  Melp.  8,  9,  10. 


584  HISTORY  OF  THE  COSSAKS. 

APPEN-   earth  was  divided,  was  affixed  by  the  Scythians  to  whatever  river  the  pre- 
"      sent  generation  was  best  acquainted   with ;    and  that  this  mythological 
corruption  of  Noah  and  his  sons,  which  was  at  first  applied  to  the  Oxus, 
or  Jaxartes,  was  afterwards  fastened  on  a  European  stream  ?     And  as  the 
antiquity  of  the  Scythians  in  Asia  is  nothing  to  the  present  purpose,  so  it 
may  be  added,  that  neither  Justin  nor  Diodorus  ascribe  to  them  an  earlier 
settlement  in  Europe  than  that  which  Herodotus  allows.     It  will  be  said, 
perhaps,  that  Herodotus  contradicts  himself,  when  he  brings  his  Scythians 
into  Europe  at  so  late  a  date  as  he  does  in  the  present  passage,  since  he 
had  previously,  in  his  second  book,  asserted  that  "  Sesostris,"  (whose  con- 
quests are  allowed  by  all  to  have  preceded  the  birth   of  Ardys  by  many 
centuries,)  "  passing  from  Asia  into  Europe,  subdued  the  Scythse  and  the 
Thracians  '."     I  might  urge,  in  answer  to  this  objection,  the  fi'equent  inac- 
curacy of  historians,  who  call  a  country  by  the  name  it  is  best  known  by, 
whether  at  the  period  which  they  mention  it  had  been  received  or  no ;  and 
the  example  of  Machiavelli,  who  speaks  in  his  discourses  of  the  conquest  of 
Rome  by  the  French  during  the  Dictatorship  of  Furius  Camillus'.    The  truth, 
however,  is,  that  Herodotus,  as  may  be  seen  by  a  careful  examination  of 
all  the  passages  in  which  he  speaks  of  Europe  and  Asia,  reckoned  as  the 
boundary  of  the  two  continents,  not  the  Tanais,  but  Caucasus,  the  Cas- 
pian, and  the  river  Araxes,  by  which  last  he  meant  the  Oxus ;  so  that  not 
only  that  which  we  now  call  European  Scythia,  but  the  country  to  the 
east  of  the  Volga,  and  Turkestan  itself,  were  included  by  him  in  the  com- 
mon name  of  Europe  ^ ;  and  that  the  Scythians  may  have  inhabited  these 
countries  in  very  remote  antiquity,  I  certainly  will  not  deny ;  any  more 
than  that   Sesostris  (if  his  exploits  be  not  imaginary)  may  have  paid  them 
a  visit  there.    The  same  observations  apply  to  the  mention  made  by  Homer 

'  Herodot.  Euterpe.  103. 

-  "  Furio  Camillo,  poi  ch'egli  ebbe  liberate  Roma  dalla  oppressione  dei  Francesi." — 
Discorsi.  lib.  i.  cap.  viii. 

'  Herodotus  speaks  expressly  of  the  boundary  of  Asia  to  the  north  and  north-east,  as 
being  the  Caspian  sea,  and  the  river  Araxes.  Xlpoc  ftopioi  ce  )';  Kao-TriT;  re  QaKciGaa  kui  u  Apa'iric 
TTOTcifjoc,  i'>iwi'  Trpog  iiXioy  ai'icr)(ovTu,  Melpom.  40  ;  and  in  the  same  section,  Toiaurr;  /jet  rat 
ToaavTT]  11  Ao-ici  eari.  And  thougli  he  allows  that  some  reckoned  the  Tanais  as  the  boundary 
of  Asia,  yet  he  himself  was  plainly  not  of  that  opinion,  since  he  calls  Europe  as  long  as  Asia 
and  Africa  together  ;  (§  42.)  and  since  he  asserts  in  another  place,  (§  45,)  that  no  one  knew 
either  the  northern  or  eastern  boundary  of  Europe.  'H  Se  EupiDTrjj  jrpoc  ovca^Hv  fayepi]  itrri 
ytrbintcofiu'i],  owe  ro  wpo£  I'/Xioi'  afareWoira,  ovre  ra  Trpoc  Boprji',  et  wcpippVTOC  (.(ttC  fxt]Kii  Ce 
yiViiXTKerai  Trap'  a/KpoTcpag  7rop?;rautra. 


HISTORY  OF  THE  COSSAKS.  585 

and  Hesiod  of  the  Hippemolgi  and  Lactophagi,  who,  if  they  were  not  Scy-  appen- 
thians,  were  a  race  at  least  of  similar  habits,  but  whom  the  poets  afford  us  === 
no  reason  for  fixing  to  the  west  of  the  Tanais.  Jupiter,  seated  on  Gar- 
garus,  with  his  back  to  Troy,  and  his  face  consequently  northward,  might 
behold  at  once  the  Thracians  and  Mysians  to  the  north-west,  and  the 
Asiatic  Sacas  at  the  north-eastern  extremity  of  his  horizon  ' ;  and  Phineus 
might  be  carried  by  the  Harpies  to  the  neighbourhood  of  the  Aral,  as  well 
as  to  the  Don  or  Dnieper.  Nor  was  it  more  difficult  for  Homer  or  Hesiod 
to  obtain  some  scanty  knowledge  of  these  eastern  tribes,  than  of  the  south- 
ern and  equally  distant  Ethiopians. 

XXni. — The  difference  of  manners  between  the  Scythians  and  the 
western  nations  of  Europe  should  not  be  omitted,  as  greatly  increasing  the 
improbability  of  any  original  connexion  between  them.  For  though  simi- 
larity of  manners  be  no  decisive  proof  of  a  common  origin,  since  all  nations, 
under  corresponding  circumstances,  are  led  to  institutions  nearly  the  same ; 
yet  so  slowly  do  men  unlearn  the  habits  of  their  ancestors,  that  any  great 
variety  of  customs,  especially  such  as  are  connected  with  religious  observ- 
ances, is  a  strong  argument  the  other  way.  Now  it  will  be  found  that  all 
the  nations  of  Western  Europe,  whether  Goths,  Greeks,  Germans,  Celts, 
or  Thracians,  have  agreed,  from  the  rudest  antiquity,  in  the  reverence  of 
certain  divinities,  which  the  learned  researches  of  Sir  WiUiam  Jones  have 
identified  with  those  of  Hindoostan.  Indra,  the  Sanscrit  god  of  the  visible 
fiiTOament,  the  husband  of  the  earth,  the  bestower  of  rain,  and  wielder  of 
the  thunder-bolt,  was,  under  the  various  names  of  Zeus,  Diespiter,  Thor,  or 
Taranis,  the  supreme  divinity  of  the  most  ancient  tribes  of  Europe ;  while 
other  and  superior  powers  were  worshipped  with  various  ceremonies,  and  all 
of  them  under  representations  of  the  human  form.    Tahiti,  or  "  Fire,"  a  su- 

'  Ztuc  S'eTTEi  ovv  Tpwas  re  kcu  'Eicropa  ri]v<n  ireXaacre, 
Touc  /Jf  '?  ■"■apa  rritri  ttovov  t    i-)(tfiev  Kai  di'Cvv 
NitiXefitwg'  auroc  Ci  iraXiv  Tpeirev  oaae  (pattyui, 
No<T(4i>'  e(f  (TrTTOTroXaic  OpifKwv  Kadopwfxtvoc  auiy, 
MwffiDV  r'  ay^f^'OX'^'';  ''"'  ayavwy  '\iz-!rr}f.w\yii>y, 
TXaKTOipayiov,  ajiiwy  tc,  ciKcuoTciTuiy  ay6pwTr(oy. 

Iliad.  N.  1. 

The  testimony  of  Hesiod,  as  quoted  by  Strabo  and  Eratosthenes  from  his  lost  poem, 
"  concerning  the  circuit  of  the  earth,"  is  to  the  same  effect,  but  with  the  yet  more  appropriate 
feature  of  the  Scythian  tented  waggon. 

T'SaKTO<liayii)v  tie  aiai'  OTDji'aig  oiKi  £)(6)'rwv. 

VOL.  I.  4  F 


586  HISTORY  OF  THE  COSSAKS. 


DIX. 


APPEN-  perstition  of  very  different  origin,  was  the  greatest  of  the  Scythian  deities  \ 
To  images  of  the  Divinity  in  a  human  hkeness,  they  appear  to  have  been 
utterly  strangers  ^  The  sword  only  was  honoured  as  an  appropriate  sym- 
bol of  the  god  of  war ;  and  with  so  much  intolerance  did  they  regard  the 
worship  of  their  neighbours,  that  Anacharsis  and  King  Scyles  were  put  to 
death  by  their  countrymen,  the  former  by  his  own  brother,  for  attempting 
to  introduce,  at  different  times,  and  with  the  greatest  privacy,  the  adoration 
of  the  two  favourite  divinities  of  Greece  and  Thrace,  the  mother  of  the 
gods  and  Bacchus  ^  The  use  of  moveable  tents,  or  fixed  habitations,  is 
another  difference  equally  striking  and  equally  universal.  The  wildest 
inhabitants  of  Germany,  and  the  earliest  savages  of  whom  we  have  any 
account  in  Thrace,  were  hunters  indeed,  but  not  scenites  or  nomades. 
The  use  of  tents,  the  tented  waggon  more  particularly,  appears  to  have 
been,  in  early  times,  unknown ;  and  even  the  warriors  of  Homer's  poem 
were  lodged  in  barracks  of  straw  and  wicker.  Strabo,  indeed,  informs  us, 
on  the  authority  of  some  nameless  historian  of  Athens,  that  the  Pelasgi 
were,  by  the  ancient  Athenians,  called  Pelasgi,  or  Storks,  from  their  fre- 
quent change  of  habitation  *.  But  this  rambling  character,  as  is  plain  from 
the  context,  was  not  the  peaceable  migration  of  shepherds,  nor  carried  on 
in  the  same  vehicles,  or  on  the  same  element ;  but  the  restless  excursions 
of  roving  pirates,  who  cruized  about  from  one  island  to  another  in  circular 
canoes,  resembling  the  Celtic  coracle.  Nor  should  it  be  forgotten  that 
this  account  of  Strabo  is  clogged  with  many  difficulties,  which  evince  that 
in  matters  of  such  remote  antiquity,  he  was  neither  so  diligent  nor  so  cau- 
tious as  Herodotus.  The  origin  which  he  assigns  to  the  Pelasgi,  that,  being 
a  small  tiibe  in  Arcadia,  they  all  turned  soldiers,  and  gave  their  own  name 
to  whoever  enlisted  into  their  number,  is  in  itself  unhkely,  and  in  complete 
opposition  to  the  general  concurrence  of  history,  which  points  them  out  as 
among  the  earliest,  doubtless,  if  not  the  original  inhabitants  of  Greece,  of  the 
islands  of  Crete  and  Cyprus,  and  of  a  part  of  Italy.  His  account,  however,  of 
their  beginning,  vague  as  it  may  be,  is  little  quahfied  to  encourage  the 
scheme  which  would  drive  them  from  Scythia ;  and  the  lucid  statement  of 
Herodotus  is  such  as  materially  to  increase  this  improbability. 

'  Herod.  Melp.  59. 

AyaXfiara  Si.  kul  poifiovc  Kai  ii/ovc  ov  vofii^ovai  irouitv  irXriv  Apjji. — Melp.  59.      A/voakrjc 
aiBrjptoQ  ISpvrai  apxatoc  kk-aaToKrc  Kat  tovt  tan  tov  Aprjos  to  ayaXfia. — Melp.  G2. 
SuviKoiai  Se  vo^iaioiai  Kai  ovtoi  aiywQ  ^pao-^ai  (pevyuvtji. — Melpomene  76. 
'  Strabo,  lib.  v. 


HISTORY  OF  THE  COSSAKS.  587 

XXIV. — The  population  of  Greece  was,  according  to  Herodotus,  di-    appex 


vided  into  two  families,  the  Pelasgi  and  the  Hellenes  '.  The  first  of  these 
were  what  he  calls  a  barbarous  nation,  who  were  the  original  occupants  of 
the  soil,  and  gave  their  name,  in  ancient  days,  to  the  whole  country.  The 
second  spoke  the  language  which  yet  bears  their  name,  and  in  the  time  of 
King  Deucalion  were  settled  in  the  country  of  Phthiotis  ;  afterwards,  under 
Dorus,  son  of  Hellen,  (from  whom  they  took  the  name  of  Dorians,)  in  the 
mountainous  parts  of  Thessaly ;  and  being  expelled  fi-om  this  settlement 
by  the  Phoenicians,  under  Cadmus,  they  carried  their  name  and  language 
into  Peloponnesus,  which  had  been  till  then  occupied  by  the  Pelasgi,  who, 
under  the  guidance  of  Apis,  had  first  redeemed  it  from  the  wild  beasts. 
The  Dorians,  or  Hellenes,  were  thus  the  ancestors  of  the  Spartans  and 
other  dominant  nations  of  the  peninsula,  and  always  retained  the  same 
tongue  which  they  brought  with  them  from  the  Phthiotis.  The  Pelasgi, 
who  took  the  name  of  lonians  on  uniting  with  another  body  of  Hellenes 
under  Ion,  son  of  Xuthus,  acquired  the  language  of  their  new  allies,  but  con- 
siderably softened  by  an  intermixture  of  their  own  ;  what  this  language  was 
it  is  certainly,  at  the  present  day,  impossible  to  determine,  though  the  scale 
of  probability  would  incline  more  to  the  Celtic  than  to  the  Scythian.  From 
them  the  Athenians  were  descended. 

I  have  thought  it  necessary  to  give  this  short  sketch  of  the  earliest 
population  of  Greece,  as  it  is  classed  by  Herodotus,  and  by  all  the  other 
best  authorities,  except  Strabo,  to  obviate  the  singular  mistakes  into  which 
an  author,  for  whose  industry  and  candour  I  have  the  highest  respect,  has 
fallen,  from  a  too  great  desire  to  reconcile  Strabo  with  Herodotus,  and  from 
a  too  great  reUance  on  his  voluminous  countryman.  Dr.  GiUies  ^  Had  it 
been  otherwise,  he  could  not  have  supposed  that  it  was  the  Pelasgic  nation 
whose  successive  migrations  Herodotus  records,  or  have  forgotten,  what 
every  school-boy  knows,  and  what  was  under  his  eyes  in  the  very  passage 
which  he  misconstrues,  that  Dorus,  from  whom  the  Dorians  took  their 
name,  was  son  of  Hellen ;  and  that  the  Albanians,  who  were  the  head  of  the 
lonians,  were  of  Pelasgic  descent. 

XXV. — Of  these  two  nations  Herodotus  assures  us  that  the  Pelasgi 
were  by  no  means  addicted  to  wandering ;  and  of  the  other,  though  he  un- 
doubtedly says  that  they  had  often  changed  their  habitations,  yet  he  no- 
where implies  that  such  migrations  were,  like  those  of  the  Scythians,  the 
result  of  their  domestic  economy,  or  that  they  left  a  pastm-e  when  it  was 

*  Clio,  56.  2  Jamieson's  Hermes  Scythiciis. 

4  F  2 


DIX. 


588  HISTORY  OF  THE  COSSAKS. 

APPEN-  exhausted,  to  return  to  it  next  season.  There  is,  in  fact,  a  great  clifFerence 
,J^!^  between  changing  our  country  and  changing  our  field ;  and  the  Tartars, 
who  do  the  last  four  times  in  a  year,  would  require  a  very  strong  induce- 
ment to  do  the  former,  or  to  forsake  for  ever  those  meadows  to  which  they 
annually  bid  adieu.  The  territory  and  pasture-grounds  of  a  horde  of  Cal- 
muks  are  marked  out  and  defended  with  as  jealous  care  from  the  encroach- 
ments of  their  neighbours,  as  the  borders  of  any  agricultural  or  manufactur- 
ing nation  ;  and  the  mere  circumstance  of  changing  their  country,  like  the 
Dorians,  as  described  by  Herodotus,when  chased  from  it  by  foreign  force, 
or  lured  by  the  hope  of  foreign  advantage,  is  no  more  characteristic  of  a 
Scythian  than  of  a  Scotsman.  The  change  of  residence  which  induced 
Herodotus  to  give  the  name  of  wandering  to  the  Hellenes,  appears,  on  ex- 
amination, to  have  occurred  only  five  times  in  half  as  many  centuries, 
which  is  no  great  matter  in  the  progress  of  a  colony.  Above  all,  however, 
the  specification  of  the  different  places  at  which  they  successively  dwelt  in 
an  extent  of  country,  the  whole  of  which  would  have  been  depastured 
and  rambled  over  by  the  Golden  Horde  in  one  season,  is  a  clear  evidence, 
that  far  from  being  nomades,  they  were  stationary  residents  within  the 
scanty  bounds  of  whatever  canton  they  colonized. 

XXVI.— In  language  (a  yet  stronger  circumstance  in  proving  or  dis- 
proving an  identity  of  race)  it  will  not  be  easy  to  prove  that  either  the 
Pelasgi  or  Hellenes  retained  any  traces  of  a  Scythian  dialect.  As  of  the 
language  spoken  by  the  former,  we  are  utterly  ignorant,  the  systematist 
has,  indeed,  a  wild  scope  for  conjecture  ;  but  on  a  comparison  of  the  Greek 
with  the  scanty  specimen  of  Scythian  words  which  Herodotus  affords  us, 
even  the  most  skilful  etymologist  will  find  but  little  chance  of  establishing 
a  relationship  '.     The  same  observation  will  apply  to  the  Gothic  dialects ; 

'  The  following  are  such  Scythian  words  as  Herodotus  has  given  us,  disfigured,  no  doubt, 
by  Greek  spelling. 


Tahiti    .  .  . 

Vesta,  or  Fire. 

Papaios .  .  . 

Jupiter,  Heaven,  perhaps  the  air  or  wind, 

Apia    .  .   .  . 

the  Earth. 

Gitosuros 

.  Apollo,  the  sun. 

Arippasa   .   . 

.  Venus  Urania. 

Thamisadas 

.  Neptune,  or  the  sea. 

Arima     .   . 

.  One. 

Spou    ,  .  . 

.  An  eye. 

Dior     .  .  . 

.  A  man. 

Pata  .... 

.  To  kill. 

HISTORY  OF  THE  COSSAKS.  589 

and  if  the  Scythian  was  originally  connected  with  any  of  them,  it  can  only  '^^^^^'" 
be  said  that  its  words  and  names  are  so  far  disfigured  by  spelling  or  pro-  ===- 
nmiciation,  that  no  traces  can  now  be  found  of  their  original  character.  It 
is  urged,  however,  on  the  authority  of  Diodorus,  that  the  Hyperborean 
dialect  approached  to  that  of  Delos ',  and  a  witticism  of  Anacharsis  is 
quoted  to  prove  that  all  the  Greeks  spoke  Scythian  -.  It  may,  therefore^ 
be  worth  while  to  examine  how  far  these  testimonies  will  bear  up  the  hy- 
pothesis to  the  aid  of  which  they  are  called  in.  Now  as  to  the  Hyperboreans 
it  may  be  doubted,  perhaps,  by  what  species  of  inspiration  Diodorus  could 
so  positively  pronounce  on  their  language  and  their  intercourse  with  the 
Delians,  so  many  centuries  after  that  intercourse  had  altogether  ceased  ; 
when  all  which  Herodotus,  300  years  before,  could  learn  from  the  Dehans 
themselves,  amounted  to  so  little.  Twice  only,  at  distant  intervals,  and  in 
very  remote  antiquity,  certain  male  and  female  pilgrims  had  arrived,  they 
said,  at  their  shrine  from  an  unknown  country  in  the  North,  whose  names 
and  nation  had  been  afterwards  celebrated  by  Olen,  a  Lycian  poet  \ 
Afterwards  certain  offerings,  packed  in  straw,  had  been  forwarded  from  the 
same  quarter,  which  the  Delians,  however,  could  only  trace  as  far  as  the 
tribes  bordering  on  the  Adriatic,  and  which  Herodotus  seems  shrewdly  to 
suspect,  were  the  workmanship  of  some  devotees  among  the  neighbouring 
Thracians  \  The  men  of  Delos,  however,  were  willing  to  suppose  them 
to  be  the  produce  of  a  fortunate  country  seated  beyond  the  north  wind, 
whence  Hercules  had  brought  the  first  olive  trees  into  Greece,  and  whence 

Hexampaios,    the  name  of  the  place  which  Herodotus  translates  "  the  sacred  way." 

Targitaus  ...    ^ 

Leipoxais  ...      f  Mythological  personages,  apparently  corrupted  from  the  history  of  Noah 

Arpoxais    ...     C     and  his  three  sons. 

Kolaxais    .  .  .    J 

"  Coraci,"  the  "  friendly  ones;"  a  name  given  to  Orestes  and  Pylades  in  Lucian's  Toxaris, 
belongs,  I  apprehend,  not  to  the  Scythian,  but  Tauro-Celtic  dialect. 

•  Died.  Sic.  Bibl.  Grsec.  1.  ii.  c.  7. 

°  Clemen.  Alexandrimis  Stromata,  lib.  i.  p.  225.  Ed.  Lugd.  1616. 

'  Pausanias  lays  the  scene  of  this  Scythian  pilgrimage  at  Delphos,  and  makes  Olen,  not 
a  Lycian,  who  sung  of  the  Hyperboreans,  but  a  Hyperborean  himself.  Thus  vague  were  all 
the  accounts  of  this  people,  of  whom  Diodorus  affects  to  know  the  language.  (Pausan.  1.  x. 
Phocie.  pp.  809-810.) 

'  Oioa  ^£  avTOz  TOvTOKTt  IpoKTL  Tods  irouvfjievov  ■!rpo(r(ji£pCQ'  toq  QprjaaaQ  cai  rac  TlaiovidaQ 
yvvaiKag,  iiriav  dvoitri  ri)  Aprifiici  rrj  /3a(ri\j;(j;,  ovu  ayev  wvpiav  KaKajj.r]Q  QvovaaQ  ra  (pa,  Kai 
ravTa  jj.e.v  ct)  oiia  ravraQ  irouvaaQ, — Melpom.  33. 


590  HISTORY  OF  THE  COSSAKS. 

APPRN-  a  certain  Abaris  had  journeyed,  neither  eating  nor  drinking  all  the  way, 
"'^"^  -  and  riding  through  the  air  on  an  arrow.  It  is  surely  loss  of  time  to  enlarge 
any  further  on  tales  of  which  Herodotus  was  ashamed ;  and  it  is  suflficient 
to  observe  that,  according  to  his  authentic  testimony,  no  tidings  of  these 
Hyperboreans  or  their  offerings  were  to  be  learnt  from  any  of  the  Scythian 
tmtionsK  Whatever  then  the  degree  of  credit  which  is  given  to  their 
Grecian  dialect  and  Grecian  superstition,  the  Scythians  at  least  had  no 
concern  in  either ;  and  since  the  com-se  by  which  their  offerings  came  to 
Delos  imphed  a  western  origin,  since  Diodorus  places  their  island  in  the 
neighbourhood  of  Gaul,  and  since  there  are  so  many  Celtic  antiquarians 
who  would  gladly  lay  claim  to  the  praises  of  Olen  and  Bovo,  it  is  strange 
perverseness  to  bind  their  wreath  around  the  unconscious  or  unwilling 
brows  of  a  nation,  which,  in  behalf  of  itself  and  its  neighbours,  disclaimed 
all  title  to  the  honour. 

XXVII. — The  expression  of  Anacharsis  is,  if  possible,  still  less  to  the 

pm-pose.     All  its  point,  and  all  the  point  of  the  manner  in  which  it  is 

appHed  by  Clemens  Alexandrinus,  consists  in  the  Greeks  and  Scythians 

being  alike  uninteUigible  to  each  other.     Clemens  is  reproving  the  vanity 

of  his  own  nation,  who  despised  all  other  tongues  as  barbarous,  and  he 

thus  reminds  them  that  foreigners  had  as  good  a  right  to  despise  Greek, 

as  the  Greeks  had  to  despise  the  language  of  foreigners.     "  To  me,"  said 

Anacharsis,  "  all  the    Greeks  speak  Scythian."     Scythian,  it   should  be 

observed,  was  not  the  native  name  by  which  the  countrymen  of  Anacharsis 

distinguished  themselves,  but  was  given  them  by  their  neighbours  in  the 

same  manner  as  the  Cwmraeg  are  called  Welch,  and  the  Osmenli  Turks. 

Anacharsis,    therefore,   whom  attic  levity  had  probably  derided  for    his 

Scythian  jargon,  at  once  in  his  answer  disavows  the  name  of  Scythian,  and 

retorts  the  charge  of  barbarism  on  his  hosts.     "  If  by  Scythian,"  is  his 

reply,  "  you  signify  an  unintelligible  language,  you  yourselves  are  as  much 

Scythians  to  me  as  I  am  to  you."     The  discovery,  then,  that  the  Scythians 

spoke  Greek,  is  to  be  imputed  neither  to  Anacharsis  nor  Clemens,  but  is 

entirely,  for  all  that  we  have  yet  seen,  the  property  of  certain  modern 

antiquarians.     Of  the  Thracian  tongue,  as  we  know  little  or  nothing,  it  is 

impossible  to   say  what  it  resembled ;  but  that  the  Getse  (who  were  a 

'  'YiTEppopeoiv  ^E  TTtpi  avSpwTTwv  ovTe  Ti  2k:i/6at  \tyovai,  ovre  ro'tc  nWot  rwy  ravrri  oiici)- 
/u£)'W)',  £1  i^r)  apa  laatjSovei,  wc  S'  tyw  foKtw,  ovS'  ovtoi  Xtyov(Tiv  ovitv'  tXeyov  yap  ai'  ««  2t;v6ai 
iig  irtpi  Twv  f.iovvo(j>6a\iJwv  Xtyovcri. — Melpom.  32. 


DIX. 


HISTORY  OF  THE  COSSAKS.  591 

Thracian  tribe)  spoke  a  different  language  from  the  Sarmatians  (who  were,    appen- 
as  will  hereafter  be  shown,  a  kindred  race  with  the  Scythians)  is  proved 
from  the  testimony  and  experience  of  Ovid,  who  sojourned  in  their  country 
and  learnt  the  language  of  each  nation  '. 

XXVIII. — In  their  weapons  and  manner  of  fighting,  the  nations  of 
whom  I  have  been  speaking  showed  the  same  remarkable  discrepancy 
from  the  characteristics  of  Scythian  warfare.  The  defensive  arms  of  ancient 
Greece,  and  of  the  wealthier  Thracian  and  Gothic  tribes,  consisted  in 
massive  helmets,  greaves,  and  breast-plates,  all  of  copper  or  strong  leather. 
They  were  all  alike  distinguished  from  the  Scythians  and  Sarmatians  by 
their  heavy  and  ample  bucklers,  which  their  wandering  neighbours  seldom 
if  ever  wore,  by  the  use  of  long  pikes  pointed  with  copper,  and  short 
straight  swords  of  the  same  material.  Horsemanship  was  originally  so  rare 
an  accomplishment  among  them,  that  its  introduction  gave  rise  to  the 
fable  of  the  Centaurs ;  and  so  late  as  the  siege  of  Troy,  the  horse  was  never 
used  in  battle,  except  harnessed  to  a  chariot,  a  custom  which,  though  it 
prevailed  with  all  the  tribes  with  whom  we  are  acquainted  west  of  the 
Dniester,  is  never  noticed  among  the  wanderers  to  the  east  of  that  river  ^. 

'  "  Didici  Getice,  Sarmaticeque  loqui." 

'  Tlie  armour  of  the  Greeks  is  well-known.  The  Thracians  are  described  by  Plutarch  as 
"  of  lofty  stature,  with  white  and  shining  shields  of  the  largest  size,  with  greaves  of  the  same, 
and  shaking  their  heavy  pikes,  which  they  carried  erect  on  the  right  shoulder." — Av^ptc  v\pri\oi 
ra  awfiara,  c.  t.  X. — Plutarch,  ^niilius  Paulus. 

Of  the  northern  nations  Tacitus  says  "  Harum  omnium  gentium  insigne,  rotunda  scuta, 
breves  gladii.  (De  nior.  Gcrmanorum)."  The  use  of  the  shield  Tacitus  regards  as  decisive 
proof  that  the  Venedi  were  not  Sarmatians.  (Ibid.)  Among  the  Greeks  and  Thracians  of 
Homer's  time,  the  use  of  the  chariot  in  war  is  known  to  have  been  universal.  Even  so  late  as 
the  time  of  Herodotus  it  was  used  by  the  Sigunna,  a  warlike  nation  in  Pannonia  (Terpsichore  q.) 
and  in  much  later  times  by  the  Britons  and  northern  nations.  To  the  Scythians,  if  we  believe 
the  descriptions  given  us,  it  was  unknown.  Mr.  Pinkerton,  indeed,  assures  us  that  Philip  in  his 
war  with  the  Scythians,  took  a  vast  number  of  war  cliariots  ;  and  cites  the  authorities  of  Strabo 
and  Justin.  But,  in  the  first  place,  it  does  not  appear  that  either  Phihp  or  Alexander  ever  ad- 
vanced so  far  as  the  Scythians,  their  war  extending  only  to  the  Thracians,  Getse,  and  Tribulli  ; 
and  secondly,  those  who  are  not  acquainted  with  Mr.  Pinkerton's  peculiar  accuracy,  will  scarcely 
perhaps  believe,  what  is,  nevertheless,  the  fact,  that  the  authors  to  whom  he  refers,  say  not  a 
single  word  of  these  chariots!  (See  Pinkerton's  disser.  on  the  Goths,  p.  70.)  We  are  apt,  ac- 
cording to  the  present  system  of  war,  to  consider  these  chariots  as  only  a  martial  incumbrance, 
nor  is  it  easy  to  conceive  how  they  can  ever  have  been  really  serviceable.  Yet  Caesar,  (no  bad 
authority  on  military  subjects,)  speaks  of  them  in  high  terms  of  praise,  when  he  says,  "  Mohi- 
litatem  equitum,  stab'ilitatem  peditum,  in  prceliis  prcestant."  (Bell.  Gall.  1.  iv.  §  29.)  But  the 
national  and  most  familiar  manner  of  ranging  an  army,  among  all  the  western  Europeans,  was 


59-2  HISTORY  OF  THE  COSSAKS. 

APPEN-    The  bow  was  rarely  employed  and  regarded  by  the  boldest  warriors  with  a 


the  plialanx,  or  a  deep  and  solid  column  of  infantry,  of  all  other  forms  the  least  adapted  to 
Scythian  habits  of  warfare.     Thus  the  Greeks,  in  the  Trojan  war,  advance  to  battle. 

AtTTTLQ  ap'  aaiTi^  epeiSe,  Kopve  Kopvv,  avcpa  o'  avr)p' 
'^avov  3'  iirTTOKOfioi  KopvOeg  XajXTrpoiai  (paXoicn 

Iliad.  N.  131. 

An  iron  scene  gleams  dreadful  o'er  the  fields. 
Armour  in  armour  lock'd,  and  shields  in  shields  ; 
Spears  lean  on  spears,  on  targets  targets  throng, 
Helms  stuck  to  helms,  and  man  drove  man  along. ' 

Pope. 

In  like  manner  the  IDyrians  under  their  old  king  Bardyllis,  in  the  battle  with  Philip  of 
Macedon,  advanced  in  the  form  of  battle  called  Plinthion.  And  the  Germans,  according,  to 
Caesar,  "  Ex  consueiudine  sud,  phalange  facta,  impetus  gladiorum  exceperunt."  (Bell.  Gall.  i. 
§  41.)  The  contempt  expressed  by  the  ancient  Greeks  for  the  bow  is  proved  by  the  expres- 
sions of  Diomede  to  Paris. 

To^ora,  Xap/3jyr>)p,  K£p(f  uyXae,  TrapBcvoTritra, 
El  fjicv  Sri  avTi/iiov  aw  Tsv^eai  Trttpj/^Eoyc, 
OuK  av  TOi  y^paiaiirfdi  fiiog  Kat  Tap<pe£g  loi' 
Nw  0£,  fi  eiriypa'^aQ  rapaov  ttoCoc,  ivy(eai  avrojg, 
OvK  aXtytoi,  ibe  £(  nc  yvvri  /3aXot,  7/  Trdig  a<ppiiiv' 
Kov^ov  yap  (ieXos  ay^pog  avaXdtSoc  ovTiiavow. 

Iliad.  X.  385. 

Vain  archer  !  trusting  to  the  distant  dart, 
Unskilled  in  arms  to  act  a  manly  part ! 
Thou  hast  but  done  what  boys  or  women  can, 
Such  hands  may  wound,  but  not  incense  a  man ! 

Pope. 

And  Menelaus,  in  the  Ajax  of  Sophocles  (line  1120)  treats  the  art  of  Teucer  with  equal  con- 
tempt. 

0   T0i,0TJ)Q   COIKEV  OV   dfllKpa   (ppovClV. 

It  is  remarkable,  indeed,  that  among  tl>e  Greek  nobles,  Teucer  and  Philoctetes  only  are 
recorded  as  archers  ;  and  on  the  Trojan  side,  only  Paris  and  Pandarus.  Nor  are  any  of  the 
troops  thus  armed,  except  the  Paeonians  on  the  Trojan  side,  and  the  troops  of  Philoctetes 
(350  men)  on  the  other  (Iliad.  B.  720.  848.)  Nor  did  the  Scythian  bow  resemble  that  of  the 
Oreek  m  shape.  "  Cum  arcus  omnium  gentium  flexis  curventur  hostilibus,  Scythici  soli  yel 
Parthic.  crcumductis  utrimque  introrsus  pandis  et  patulis  cornibus,  effigiem  Lun«  decrescentis 
ostendunt,  medietatem  recta  et  rotunda  reguladividente."    (Ammian.  Marcell,  lib.  xxii.  c.  viii.) 

7 


HISTORY  OF  THE  COSSAKS.  593 

contempt,  from  which  not  even  the  example  of  Hercules  could  redeem  it :    appen- 

.  .  .  ."  DIX. 

and  the  main  strength  of  all  their  armies  consisted  in  a  close  and  weighty  ,  ^- 

column  of  infantry.  How  greatly  does  this  picture  differ  fi"om  the  pliant 
habergeon,  the  feigned  retreat,  the  sudden  rally,  the  crooked  iron  scymitar  ', 
and  the  bow  and  poisoned  arrows  of  the  light  armed  cavalier  of  Scythia. 
Against  this  general  want  of  likeness  it  will  surely  not  be  urged  as  a 
material  exception  that  the  Getfe,  a  Thracian  tribe  adjoining  the  Scythians, 
and  inhabiting  like  them  a  country  of  open  plains,  had  in  part  adopted 
their  manner  of  fighting ;  or  that  the  Getse  must  have  been  Scythians, 
though  differing  from  them  both  in  religion  and  language,  because  they 
were  armed  with  bows  and  arrows,  and  went  to  war  on  horseback '. 

XXIX. — "  But  the  Getfe,"  we  are  told,  "  are  proved  by  incontro- 
vertible evidence  to  have  been  the  same  people  with  the  Scythians  ^ ;"  and 
this  evidence  will  be  found  to  resolve  itself  into  their  vicinity  of  situation, 
their  similarity  of  weapons  and  their  name.  Now  the  second  of  these  cir- 
cumstances may,  as  we  have  seen,  be  fairly  accounted  for  by  the  first ;  and 
how  far  the  first  is  to  prevail  against  the  opinion  of  Herodotus,  may  be  left 
to  the  verdict  of  even  a  Gothic  jury.  The  argument  drawn  from  their 
name,  if  I  understand  it  rightly,  is  as  follows :  we  find  on  the  banks  of  the 
Dniester  the  Tyri  Getae,  or,  as  Herodotus  calls  them,  Tyritse  ;  the  Thyssa- 
getae,  a  tribe  east  of  the  Volga  ;  and  the  Massagetae,  a  mighty  and  numerous 
people  in  the  neighbourhood  of  the  Abtaian  mountains.  "  And  it  is  obvious 
that  Getae  must  have  been  the  primary  denomination."  But  all  these 
were  Scythians,  and  the  Scythians  and  Getas  are  therefore,  according  to 
these  learned  persons,  identified.  It  is  singular  that  in  this  chain  of  argu- 
ment there  is  not  a  single  hnk  which  is  not  defective,  either  in  the  fact 
itself,  or  in  the  inference  drawn  from  it.  Of  the  three  nations  mentioned, 
the  Tyritae  and  Thyssagetae  are,  by  the  positive  testimony  of  Herodotus, 
decided  not  to  have  been  Scythian  ;  the  first  being  a  colony  of  Greeks  \  the 
second,  "  a  large  or  numerous  and  peculiar  people  %"  and  the  Massagetae, 
though  often  confounded  by  the  Greeks  under  the  common  name  of 
Scythians,  (a  term  as  vaguely  and  improperly  apphed  to  all  wandering 

'  Iron,  not  copper,  was  used  by  the  Scythians  in  their  various  implements,  "  apywp&i  li 
ouSti/ ouc£  xaX^w  XPf'^'''""'-"  Melp.  71.  Their  swords  are  always  called  "  acii'awic."  See 
Herodotus,  passim. 

«  Jamieson,  Hermes  Scythicus,  p.  1 0. 

'  Ibid.  p.  7. 

*  'EX\»)i'££  o(  Tvp<rat  KaXtovrai., — Melp.  51. 

'  QiKTCTayErai,  iQvoq  t!oKKov  koli  tcftoi-.— Ibid.  22. 
VOL.  I.  4    G 


594  HISTORY  OF  THE  COSSAKS. 


uix. 


APPEN-  tribes  as  Tartar  is  at  present)  are  distinguished  from  them  by  Herodotus 
:  as  using  copper  for  their  weapons  instead  of  iron  ;  as  fighting  on  foot  with 
pikes  as  well  as  on  horseback ;  by  a  greater  profligacy  of  manners  ;  and  by 
the  deadly  feud  which  existed  between  them  and  the  Scythians,  and  which 
first  compelled  the  latter  to  take  refuge  in  Europe  '.  Whatever,  then,  the 
connexion  between  the  Massagetae  and  Getse,  this  will  not  prove  the  latter 
to  have  been  Scythians  ;  and  it  must  be  owned  that  the  distinctive  features 
ascribed  to  the  Massaget^,  resemble  the  nations  of  Northern  Europe  much 
more  than  any  which  are  recorded  of  the  Scythian  wanderers.  But,  in 
truth,  the  mere  circumstances  of  a  correspondence  between  one  name,  and 
the  two  last  syllables  of  another,  is  by  far  too  slight  a  circumstance  to 
induce  us  to  believe  in  the  affinity  of  nations  so  widely  separated  as  Thrace 
and  Tm-kestan.  Of  the  Massagetic  language,  it  should  be  remembered, 
we  know  not  a  single  syllable  ;  and  if  a  Chinese  antiquarian  should  discover 
in  some  corner  of  Eastern  Tartary  a  tribe  named  Ish,  he  would  be  hardly 
justified,  I  apprehend,  in  identifying  them  with  the  nations  of  Europe ;  or 
inferring,  from  the  knowledge  of  a  few  names  in  our  language,  that  Ish 
was  the  "  primary  denomination  of  all,"  and  that  EngHsh,  Scottish,  Irish, 
were  only  modifications  of  it.  Besides,  if  Strahlenburgh's  derivation  of 
Massagetae  from  Matchudi  be  correct  (and  it  has  at  least  the  merit,  which 
none  of  the  others  have,  of  being  founded  on  a  Tartar  etymology)  it  is 
plain  that  the  controversy  is  at  an  end  so  far  as  either  Goths  or  Getae  are 
concerned,  since  Tchudi  is  now,  and  always  has  been,  the  oriental  name  for 
the  Finns;  and  that  the  Getae  were  of  this  last  race  will  hardly,  I  think, 
be  suspected.  If,  however,  it  can  be  shown  that  we  have  no  good  reason 
to  consider  the  Getas  as  Scythians,  I  may  well  be  excused  the  labour  of 
proving  that  they  were  not  Massagetae. 

XXX. — The  testimonies  of  the  ancients,  which  are  alleged  to  prove 
the  Scythian  descent  of  the  Greeks,  resolve  themselves,  I  apprehend,  into 
that  of  Lucian  ^  who  calls  Deucalion  a  Scythian  ;  the  epithet,  Scythiadis, 
given  by  the  poets  to  Delos  ;  and  the  opinion  mentioned,  but  apparently 
not  adopted  by  Strabo,  that  the  '  Caucones,  who  had  in  very  early  times 
colonized  parts  of  Greece,  were  of  Scythian  extraction.  What  weight  is 
in  this  instance  to  be  given  to  the  authority  of  Lucian,  will  appear  from  a 
reference  to  his  Toxaris,  in  which  he  applies  so  vaguely  the  name  of 
Scythian  to  the  Tauri  or  Celtic  worshippers  of  Diana,  and  the  Sauromatae, 
whom  Mr.  Pinkerton  and  his  followers  will  certainly  not  allow  to  have 

'  Herod.  Clio.  215.  Melp.  II.  «  Lucian.  de  Dea  Syria.  '  Strabo.  1.  xi. 

9 


HISTORY  OF  THE  COSSAKS.  595 

deserved  the  title,  that,  it  is  plain,  by  the  word  Scythian  he  only  meant  a    appe\- 

person  of  northern  descent,  and  what  tlie  Greeks  called  a  barbarian.     The  

epithet  of  Scythiadis  was  given  to  Delos  by  the  poets,  whose  accuracy  in 
points  like  these  is  very  seldom  to  be  relied  on  ;  and  it  might  be  given  either 
because  that  shrine  was  frequented  and  honoured  by  the  Hyperboreans,  or 
because  the  Scythian  Apollo  was  worshipped  there.  The  Hyperboreans 
have  been  already  proved  not  to  be  Scythians ;  and  Apollo  received  this 
title,  either  from  the  Hyperboreans  who  were  his  favourite  race,  or  because 
he  was  the  patron  of  archery.  But,  admitting  for  a  moment  that  Delos 
derived  the  name  of  Scythiadis  from  any  original  connection  or  continued 
intercourse  with  the  Scythians,  its  bearing  this  name  in  distinction  from  the 
rest  of  Greece,  would  be  at  least  a  strong  presumption  that  the  neigh- 
bouring regions  had  no  tradition  of  the  kind  as  to  their  ovn\  origin.  The 
truth  however  is,  that  Delos  received  the  name  of  Scythiadis  from  the  well- 
known  fable  of  the  island  having  wandered  many  years  about  the  sea,  till 
it  was  fixed  as  an  asylum  for  Latona.  The  passage  in  Strabo  proves  that 
there  was  the  greatest  uncertainty  respecting  the  origin  of  the  Caucones, 
"  some  reckoning  them  Scythians,  some  Macedonians,  and  some  Pelasgi." 
The  manner  in  which  these  names  ai-e  mentioned,  is  at  least  a  proof  that 
the  Greeks  had  no  idea  that  the  Macedonians  or  Pelasgi  were  Scythians ; 
and  that  the  Caucones  were  so  is  doubtless  a  most  improbable  conjecture, 
if  we  consider  their  situation,  or  their  previous  history.  Their  first  known 
residence  was  in  the  south-west  angle  of  Asia  Minor ;  they  spoke  the  same 
language  with  their  neighbours  the  Carians,  and  they  came,  according  to 
their  own  tradition,  preserved  by  Herodotus,  not  from  Scythia,  but  from 
Crete.  Herodotus,  indeed,  did  not  believe  this  tradition  ;  but  though  he 
was  better  acquainted  with  the  Scythian  tribes  than  any  writer  since  his 
time  has  been,  and  though  he  was  the  near  neighbour  of  the  Caucones,  it 
does  not  appear  to  have  occurred  to  him  as  possible,  that  these  subjects  of 
Minos  drew  their  pedigree  from  the  nations  north  of  the  Araxes.  To 
prove  the  Thracians  Scythge,  no  ancient  authority  is  adduced ;  and  all  the 
testimonies  which  support  this  hypothesis  as  to  any  of  the  neighbouring 
nations,  are  the  eleventh  ode  of  the  second  book  of  Horace,  which  Mr. 
Pinkerton  applies  to  the  Illyrians  ;  and  a  passage  in  Pliny,  wherein  he 
classes  the  Geta3  among  the  Scythian  tribes.  But  the  first  of  these  alludes, 
beyond  a  doubt,  not  to  the  Illyrians,  but  to  the  inroad  of  the  Sarmatians 
and  other  wandering  people,  who  had  associated  themselves  with  the  Getae 
and  Daci,  and  at  that  time  threatened  Pannonia ;  and  the  geographical 

4  G  2 


r^ciG  HISTORY  OF  THE  COSSAKS. 

APPEN-  nomenclature  of  the  Latin  poets  is  too  vague  to  serve  as  basis  for  a  serious 
_^'iL_  argument.  The  passage  of  Phny  if  it  prove  any  thing,  will,  in  the  opinion 
of  Mr.  Pinkerton,  prove  too  much,  since  what  he  says  of  the  Getse  he  says 
also  of  the  Sarmatfe.  But  what,  after  all,  is  the  value  of  authorities  like 
these  against  the  opinion  of  one  who,  like  Herodotus,  had  sojourned  in  the 
land  and  caroused  with  the  people  whom  he  describes,  and  who  lived  at  a 
time  when,  if  any  tradition  of  a  Scythian  descent  had  ever  prevailed  either 
among  the  Greeks,  Thracians,  or  Getae,  it  was  surely  more  likely  to  be  re- 
membered than  500  years  afterwards,  when,  as  shall  hereafter  be  shown, 
the  Scythians  had  no  longer  any  national  existence. 

XXXI. — The  Goths,  however,  it  is  in  vain  to  deny,  are  repeatedly 
called  Scythians  by  the  Byzantine  historians ;  and  their  origin,  as  well  as 
that  of  the  Vandals,  is  deduced  by  their  own  writers  and  by  those  of  Greece, 
at  some  uncertain  epoch,  from  the  eastern  shores  of  the  Palus  Maeotis. 
These  opinions  are  very  far  from  being  identical,  inasmuch  as  the  country 
beyond  the  Tanais  was  at  no  time,  within  the  range  of  history,  peopled  by 
Scythians,  except  during  their  progress  from  the  Araxes ;  and  that  the 
Goths  are  of  Sarmatian  descent,  has  never,  I  beheve,  been  pretended.  And 
by  those  learned  men  who  speak  of  the  Goths  as  Scythians,  something 
more  is  meant,  I  apprehend,  than  that  they  have,  at  some  unknown  pe- 
riod, inhabited  Southern  Russia ;  a  character  which  has,  at  different  times, 
applied  equally  to  so  many  different  communities — to  Celts,  Greeks,  Huns, 
Romans,  Calmuks,  Turks,  Sarmatians,  not  to  mention  Jews  and  the  Pontic 
followers  of  Mithridates.  It  is  certainly  possible  that  some  of  the  many 
nations  who  have  sojourned  in  Scythia,  or  in  the  neighbourhood  of  Cau- 
casus, may  have  sent  out  colonies  into  Europe  which  have  escaped  the 
notice  of  historians ;  but  the  same  reasons  which  militate  against  the  de- 
scent of  the  Greeks  and  Thracians  from  the  north-eastern  tribes,  must  mili- 
tate also  against  the  same  hypothesis  as  applied  to  the  Goths  or  Germans, 
since  the  analogy  of  language  and  manners  so  strongly  points  ovit  a  different 
connexion,  and  since  neither  the  Celts  first,  nor  after  them  the  Scythians 
and  Sarmatians,  were  tribes  of  such  a  yielding  character,  as  to  suffer 
strangers  to  pass  through  their  land,  unless  they  had  themselves  been  first 
subdued  or  extirpated.  Perhaps,  indeed,  it  may  be  found  that  neither  the 
name  of  Scythian,  as  applied  by  the  Byzantine  authors,  nor  the  traditionary 
account  of  their  origin,  are  circumstances  of  any  great  weight  in  deciding 
the  question. — We  shall  discover,  in  the  course  of  this  work,  that  the 
eastern  neighbours  of  the  Scythians,  at  a  date  not  greatly  preceding  the 


HISTORY  OF  THE  COSSAKS.  ^97 

Christian  oera,  had  so  completely  overthrown  this  latter  people,  as  to  efface    appen- 
them  from  the  list  of  nations  ;  so  that  their  name  was  only  known  in  his-  ' 

tory,  or  as  it  was  still  preserved,  in  obscurity  and  dependance,  by  a  few 
remote  and  scattered  tribes.     Of  this  Strabo  positively  informs  us  ' ;  and 
this  is  what  has  occasioned  an  expression  in  Pliny,  which  Mr.  Pinkerton 
misunderstands,  "  that  the  whole  name  of  Scythians  had  passed  away,  or 
been  amalgamated  with  those  of  the  Germans  and  Sarmatians."    The  name, 
nevertheless,  was  still  applied  by  both  Greeks  and  Romans  to  whatever 
succeeding  tribes   occupied,  in  their  turn,  the  plains  where  the   Scythian 
once  drove  his  Avaggon ;  and  not  the  Goths  only,  but  the  Sarmatians,  the 
Huns,  the  Patzinacitae,  and  the  Avars,  are  called  Scythians  in  the  Byzan- 
tine histories,  in  the  same  manner  as  the  Gothic  tribes  of  England  and 
Scotland  have  inherited  from  their  Celtic  predecessors  the  name  of  Britons  ; 
as  the  Franks  are  often  called  Gauls  ;  and  as  the  descendants  of  Alaric  have 
taken  in  Spain  the  name  of  Spaniards.     We  find,  accordingly,  that  the 
Goths  were  only  then  styled  Scythians,  when  they  were  in  possession  of  the 
Crimea  and  the  Ukraine,  and  when  they  poured  forth  their  warHke  youths, 
with  short  swords  and  circular  bucklers,  to  ravage  the  Roman  provinces 
contiguovis   to  the    Danube.      When  they  are  mentioned  by   Pliny  and 
Ptolemy  under  the  name  of  Guthones,  in  their  ancient  habitations  adjoining 
the  Baltic,  not  a  hint  is  dropt  of  their  resemblance  to,  or  kindred  with  the 
Scythians ;  and  the  accurate  Tacitus,  so  far  from  deducing  the  Germans 
from  the  east,  was  reduced,  in  failure  of  a  clearer  origin,  to  suppose  them 
the  indigenous  gi'owth  of  the  country  where  they  then  resided.     The  mere 
name,  then,  of  Scythian  either  proves  nothing  at  all,  or  proves  too  much, 
since  there  is  hardly  any  nation  of  Asia  to  which  it  has  not  been  thus 
applied ;  and  the  observations  of  the  ablest  and  earliest  writer  who  has 
described  the  Gothic  nations  in  their  own  country,  give  no  colour  at  all  to 
their  having  any  more  definite  property  in  the  title. 

XXXII. — In  like  manner,  the  authorities  so  often  cited  of  Stephanus 
and  Georgius  Syncellus ;  the  first  defining  the  Goths  as  "  a  nation  first 
inhabiting  the  country  within  the  Palus  Masotis,  and  afterwards  migrating 
into  Thrace  ' ;"  the  second  calling  them  "  the  Scythians  who  are  also 
Goths,"  are  both  very  Uttle  to  the  present  purpose,  since  both  refer  only  to 
that  time  in  which  they  really  occupied  European  Scythia,  and  when  they, 
to  the  great  misfortune  of  the  Byzantine  empire,  extended  their  ravages 

'  Strabo.  1.  vii. 

'  Stephan.  de  Urbib.  voc,  rorOm,     Georgius  Syncellus,  p.  376. 


5i)s  HISTORY  OF  THE  COSSAKS. 


DIX. 


APPEX-    and  authority  over  the  greater  part  of  Thrace.     But  succeeding  enquirers, 
misled  by  the  famous  legend  of  Odin,  have  applied  to  a  remote  antiquity 
those  passages  in  which  the  Greeks  described  the  events  passing  under  their 
own  eyes,  and  have  discovered  the  first  population  of  Germany  and  Scan- 
dinavia, nay,  of  Dacia,  Thrace,  and  Hellas  itself,  in  the  passage  of  the  Ister 
by  King  Cniva,  three  centin-ies  after  Christ.     The  legend  of  Odin,  his 
flight  before  the  arms  of  Pompey,  and  his  fortunate  progress  from  Azoph 
to  Scandinavia,  is  in  itself  utterly  improbable,  as  it  is  evident  that  the  Goths 
of  Germany  had  been  established  in  their  present  habitations  at  a  date  so 
far  anterior  to  that  here  assigned,  that  Tacitus  considered  them  to  be  in- 
digenous.    Now  while  the  Germans  were  thus  forgetful  of  their  original 
country,  we  cannot  believe  that  the  Swedes,  more  remote  and  less  civihzed, 
should  have  preserved  a  tradition  so   circumstantial.     These  traditions, 
then,  are  in  themselves  unworthy  of  notice,  while  the  Byzantine  authorities, 
however  accurate,  are  irrelevant  to  the  subject  under  discussion.      The 
only  important  testimony  I  know,  which,  thovigh  it  would  not  account  for 
the  origin  of  the  Goths  in  Europe,  would  at  least  throw  a  new  light  on  the 
recruits  they  received  from  other  quarters,  is  that  of  Procopius,  where  he 
adds,  "  that  the  Vandals,  a  race  bordering  on  the  Palus  Maeotis,  being  prest 
with  hunger,  went  over  to  the  Franks,  or  Germans,  on  the  river  Rhine, 
having  first  made  an  alhance  with  the  the  Alani,  a  Gothic  7iation  \"     But  an 
event  of  this  sort  could  not  have  taken  place  without  om*  hearing  of  it  from 
other  quarters  besides  Procopius ;  and  after  an  attentive  review  of  the  cir- 
cumstances, I  cannot  but  suspect  that  the  Palus  Maeotis  is  a  mistake  for 
the  marshes  of  Prussia,  and  that  by  the  Alani,  Procopius  means  the  Ale- 
manni.     Sure  we  are,  from  the  testimony  of  Ammianus  Marcellinus,  that 
the  Alani  had  not  left  their  eastern  homes  before  the  arrival  of  the  Huns 
in  the  fomth  century ;  and  that  the  Vandals  were  already  in  Germany,  so 
long  before  the  time  of  Tacitus,  as  to  be  included  among  the  descendants 
of  the  patriarch  Mannus. 

XXXHI. — We  must  therefore,  I  apprehend,  abandon  as  untenable 
the  hypothesis  which  derives  so  many  stationary  nations  of  Western 
Europe  from  the  wandering  tribes  of  Scythia.  But  it  is  so  far  only  as  this 
imputed  origin  goes,  that  I  differ  from  their  opinion  who  deduce  from  a 
remote  but  common  source,  the  various  families  agreeing  in  the  use  of, 
what  Adelung  calls,  the  Indo-European  language  ;  fi-om  which,  blended  with 
Celtic,  the  dialects  of  Southern  as  well  as  Northern  Europe  are  apparently 

'  Procopius  de  Bello  Vandal,  lib.  i.  c.  3,  p.  182. 


HISTORY  OF  THE  COSSAKS.  599 

deducible.      To  trace    its   progress   from   the    east  with    any    degree    of   appen- 

certainty,  may  baffle,  perhaps,  the  efforts  of  sober  enquiry ;  inasmuch  as ^ — 

that  frontier  of  Europe  has  undergone  so  many  revolutions,  that  I  know 
not  how  we  are  at  this  distance  of  time  to  ascertain  what  was  the  ancient 
language  of  Thrace  or  Dacia  ;  and  must,  consequently,  remain  in  the  dark 
as  to  one  most  material  link  of  the  chain  which  unites  Europe  to  Persia 
and  Hindoostan.  But  it  is  known,  from  undoubted  authority  that,  from 
Armenia  westward  to  the  Bosphorus  the  whole  of  Asia  Minor  was  occupied 
by  tribes  agreeing  with  the  Thracians  in  language,  manners,  and  religion  '. 
And  as  we  know  the  relationship  between  the  Germans  and  inhabitants  of 
Iran  ;  between  the  Goths  and  the  Greeks  ;  it  is  surely  more  natural  to  look 

'  Strabo  enumerates  the  Mysians,  Phrygians,  Mygdonians,  Beboyces,  Medo-Bythynians, 
Lycians,  Bythynians,  Thynians,  and  Mariandyne,  as  Thracian  tribes  resident  in  Asia.  To 
these  may  be  added,  on  the  authority  of  Herodotus,  (Clio.  171.)  the  Lydians  andCarians,  who 
were  a  kindred  race  to  the  Mysians  ;  and  on  that  of  Eusthasius,  tl;e  Pajones,  Cicones,  and, 
perhaps,  the  Paphlagonians.  Well  might  Herodotus  say,  that  the  Thracians  were  the  most 
numerous  of  all  nations  but  the  Indians !  Some  of  these  tribes,  indeed,  are  supposed  by 
Strabo  to  have  emigrated  from  Europe  into  Asia.  And  such  retrograde  movements  are  com- 
mon in  history.  But  there  were  others,  such  as  the  Carians,  Lydians,  and  Mysians,  whom 
Herodotus  reckons  Antochthones,  in  Asia.  Others,  such  as  the  Veneti,  Curetes,  and  Tyrr- 
heni,  are  known  to  have  passed  from  Asia  into  Europe  ;  and  it  would  be  as  contrary  to  the 
analogy  of  history  to  assert,  that  Asia  Minor  was  peopled  from  the  west,  because  some  few 
western  colonies  were  founded  there,  as  that  Gaul  was  peopled  from  Britain,  because  some 
British  fugitives  established  themselves  in  Armorica.  Yet  this  is  the  opinion  maintained  by 
those  learned  Goths,  whose  opinions  I  am  now  examining  ;  and  who  absolutely  take  it  for 
granted,  that  all  these  tribes  were  Scythians,  because  they  were  Thracians,  having  first  taken 
for  granted  that  the  Thracians  themselves  were  so  ;  and  omitting,  secondly,  to  reflect,  that  it 
was  more  natural  to  derive  the  Thracians  from  the  Asiatics,  than  the  Asiatics  from  them. 

As  for  the  Lycians,  whom  one  of  the  ablest  of  the  defenders  of  the  Scythian  hypothesis, 
boldly  claims,  together  with  their  poet  Olen,  as  belonging  to  his  favourite  nation,  on  the 
grounds  of  their  being  a  kindred  people  to  the  Carians,  it  is  remarkable  that  Strabo,  whom 
he  cites,  asserts  nothing  whatever,  either  about  their  origin  or  their  relationship  to  the  Carians  ; 
and  that  Herodotus  not  only  believed  them  to  have  proceeded  originally  from  Crete  ;  but 
actually  gives  an  account  of  the  causes  which  induced  them  to  emigrate.  (Clio.  173.)  I  am, 
however,  on  a  comparison  with  Strabo  and  Herodotus,  inclined  to  suspect  that  the  reason  why 
so  many  nations  of  Asia  Minor  were  supposed  to  have  passed  thither  from  Crete,  was,  because 
they  were  descended  from  the  Curetes,  who  though  they  colonized  Crete  were  of  Phrygian 
origin,  and  may  therefore  have  established  themselves  in  many  parts  of  Asia,  not  after,  but 
before  their  voyage  to  the  islands.  The  return  of  the  Lycians,  however,  from  Crete  to  Asia,  is 
too  positively  told  to  admit  of  any  doubt.  That  they  were  originally  from  the  same  stock 
with  the  Carians,  though  I  think  it  highly  probable,  yet  I  certainly  do  not  find  asserted  in 
Strabo. 


000  HISTORY  OF  THE  COSSAKS. 

APPKN-  for  their  connectins;  tribes  in  Thrace  and  Asia,  than  to  conduct  the  ancient 
"  Hellenic  and  Teutonic  population  through  the  passes  of  Caucasus,  and  the 
trackless  desert  of  Astrachan  ;  a  country  which,  far  from  being  the  best 
and  most  familiarly  known  to  antiquity  (as  might  have  been  reasonably 
supposed,  had  it  been  the  channel  of  their  first  commvmication  vnth 
Europe)  was  regarded  by  Homer  as  the  land  of  darkness  and  departed 
souls,  and  was  only  first  explored,  if  we  believe  the  common  voice  of 
poetry  and  tradition,  by  Jason  and  his  Argonauts.  If  the  ancient  language, 
then,  of  Thrace  and  Phrygia  were  known,  we  might  expect  to  find  it  so 
much  less  removed  from  the  classical  languages  than  the  Gothic,  as  it  was 
nearer  in  respect  of  time  and  situation.  And  such  a  language,  partaking 
of  Gothic,  Greek,  and  Latin,  but  in  its  construction  approaching  nearest 
of  any  to  the  second  of  these,  exists,  as  shall  be  hereafter  shown,  in  a  part 
of  Thrace  at  the  present  day  ;  and  may  be  proved  to  have  existed  from 
remote  antiquity,  if  not  in  Thrace  itself,  yet  in  the  countries  immediately 
adjoining. 

XXXIV. — It  is  doubtless  not  impossible  that,  while  the  north  of 
Persia  was  pouring  out  its  swarms  on  one  side  into  Asia  Minor  and  Europe, 
similar  colonies  may  have  advanced  fi'om  this  common  centre  to  the  north 
and  east ;  and  that  some  words  of  identical  meaning  may  be  found,  on  en- 
quiry, in  the  language  of  the  Turks  and  Western  Tartars,  and  the  inhabit- 
ants of  Europe.  But  that  these  last  owed  their  origin  to  any  tribes  of 
Northern  Asia,  we  have  not  therefore  any  reason  to  suppose  ;  and  the  thin 
scattering  of  military  and  religious  phrases  which  answer  to  this  description 
in  the  Tartar  dialects,  are  more  naturally  derivable  from  intercourse  than 
parentage.  And  no  words  of  this  kind  occur  in  the  scanty  specimens  of 
Scythian  which  we  possess. 

XXXV. — Who  the  Scythians  were,  or  with  what  family  of  Northern 
Asia  they  were  connected,  is  however  a  much  less  easy  thing  to  prove, 
than  to  decide  who  they  were  not.  Their  adoration  of  fire  and  the 
scymitar  connects  them  with  many  tribes  both  of  Turkish  and  Hunnish 
descent ;  and  the  same  reverence  is  paid  to  their  weapons  at  the  present 
day  by  certain  of  the  wandering  Finns  \    They  cannot,  however,  have  been 

'  The  worship  of  fire  they  appear  to  have  brought  with  them  from  the  neighbourhood  of 
Bactria.  Their  reverence  for  the  scymitar,  and  their  custom  of  swearing  by  it  (see  Lucian's 
Toxaris,)  they  had  in  common  with  the  Sarmatians  (Amm.  Marcell.  xvii.  13.)  and  the  Huns 
and  Alani  (Idem.  xxxi.  2.)  The  Chagan  of  the  Avars,  when  accused  of  violating  the  Roman 
frontier  on  the  river  Saave,  swore  by  liis  sword.     Tovq  A/3apiKov£  u^ivviv  vpKovQ  ^i<pog  aivaaa- 


HISTORY  OF  THE  COSSAKS.  601 

Huns  or  Mongolians,  since  the  peculiarity  of  the  Calmuk  countenance  was    appen- 

.  DIX. 

unknown  to  the  ancients,  whether  Greeks  or  Persians,  before  the  time  of  == 
Attila.  With  some  of  the  Turkish  tribes,  their  tents  on  wheels  ;  their  art 
of  preparing  a  fermented  liquor  from  mares'  milk ;  the  form  of  their  bows, 
and  their  crooked  scymitars,  appear  very  strongly  to  identify  them.  The 
little,  however,  that  we  know  of  their  language,  which  differs  as  much  from 
the  Tartar  as  the  Gothic  or  Greek,  induces  me  rather  to  believe  that  they 
were  a  race  of  Finns,  to  which  the  colour  of  their  hair  would  also  persuade 
me  '.  If  so,  the  Hungarians,  not  the  Greeks,  are  their  modern  representa- 
tives in  the  south  of  Europe.  But  where  knowledge  cannot  be  obtained, 
it  is  better  to  avow  ignorance,  than  to  waste  time  and  labour  in  con- 
jecture. 

XXXVI. — The  name  of  Scytha,  or  Scythian,  was  unknown  to  the 
people  themselves,  to  whom  it  was  applied  by  other  nations,  and  is  probably 
no  other  than  the  Celtic  "  Scuyth  ^,"  a  wanderer,  which  the  Cimmerians 
would  naturally  affix  to  their  roving  enemies ;  though  it  may  be  also  no- 
ticed that  Tchudi  (the  oriental  name  of  the  Finns)  approaches  more  nearly 
to  IkvOoi  than  any  other  national  appellation  which  we  know :  their  native 
appellation,  however,  was  Scolot,  and  they  had  themselves  been  expelled 
from  their  ancient  habitation  on  the  banks  of  the  Araxes  by  some  more 
eastern  tribes  of  Massagetce  \     This  is  the  result  of  the  enquiries  made  by 

fievos,  Kai  Lirapaaafiii'OQ  iavT(^  rt  kui  ru  A/Japwc  £•?>■£(  Trarroiwf  ti  tcara  Pai/ia(ouc  Tt  fir]-)(avu)fj.eios 
yt^upovv  Tov  ^aoy,  vtto  si^oc  /lev  avroc  /cat  to  AfiaptKov  airay  ayaXui^Eit)  <f)v\oy. — Menander. 
Eclog.  Legat.  p.  106. 

The  Pagan  Finns,  many  of  them,  still  worship  their  spears  and  hatchets.  (See  Linden- 
brog's  note  on  Ammianus  Marcellinus,  ubi  supra.) 

'  The  colour  of  the  Scythian's  hair  is  no  where,  that  I  know  of,  mentioned ;  but  the 
Alani  and  Sarmatians,  kindred  tribes,  had  yellow  hair.  (For  the  first  see  Animi.  Marcell. 
xxxi.  2.)  The  second  nation  are  called  '  Flavi,'  by  Claudian,  in  his  Fescennine  verses  on  the 
marriage  of  Honorius  and  Maria. 

Dices  6  quoties,  Hoc  mihi  dulcius 
Quam  flavos  decies  vincere  Sarmatas  ! 

The  young  emperor,  it  seems,  had  rather  give  one  kiss  than  gain  ten  victories ;  on  the  other 
hand,  Regner  Lodbrog,  in  his  death-song,  likens  (according  to  most  interpreters,)  the  "  cer- 
taminis  gaudia"  to  the  "  kissing  a  young  widow  on  the  highest  seat  at  a  banquet."  My  friend, 
the  Hon.  W.  Herbert,  has,  however,  given  a  different  meaning  to  this  strange  comparison,  and 
one  which  makes  Honorious  and  Regner  more  of  one  mind.  (Herbert's  Select.  Icelandic 
Poetry,  p.  117.) 

°   'LvfiTTam  £e  tivai  ovyofia  ScoXorovc— S*.w0ac  ?£  'EXXr)>£C  ovyvfiUffay. 

'  Melp.  11. 
VOL.  I.  4  H 


fiO-2  HISTORY  OF  THE  COSSAKS. 

Ai'PiA-  Herodotus  himself;  and  it  coincides,  in  all  essential  points,  with  the  account 
of  Aristeas  of  Proconnesus,  who  had  visited  the  country,  and  advanced 
even  so  far  as  the  remote  Issedones,  to  whose  inroad,  impelled  in  their 
turn  by  the  yet  more  formidable  Arimaspi,  he  ascribed  the  emigration  of 
the  Scoloti  westward  into  Europe.  An  unsuccessful  war,  indeed,  has, 
among  the  barbarous  tribes  of  Northern  Asia,  been  almost  always  followed 
by  the  expatriation  of  the  weaker  party.  Those  whose  wealth  and  gods 
and  habitations  are  alike  portable  and  comprized  within  the  circle  of  an 
encampment,  have  no  adequate  motive  to  remain  in  the  neighbourhood  of 
a  victorious  and  insulting  enemy  ;  the  impulse  once  begun  is  communicated 
from  one  tribe  to  another,  so  long  as  the  retreating  nations  fall  on  hordes 
still  weaker  than  themselves  ;  and  it  has  often  happened  that  the  storms 
arising  at  either  extremity  of  this  great  sea  of  land,  have  been  felt  to 
vibrate  through  its  whole  extent  from  Kief  to  the  Altai.  Nor  is  the  testi- 
mony of  Aristeas  to  be  despised,  though  he  may  seem,  by  the  accovmt 
Herodotus  obtained  of  him,  to  have  been  a  religious  impostor,  or  a  crazy 
enthusiast.  For  though  their  miraculous  stories  are,  undoubtedly,  to  be 
received  with  caution,  there  is  no  reason,  whei'e  they  have  no  interest  in 
deception,  to  reject  the  testimony  of  such  wanderers  as  these,  who,  regard- 
less of  misery  and  insult,  and  secured  from  danger  by  the  superstition  or 
pity  of  the  fiercest  savages,  afford  often  the  only  sources  of  information 
respecting  remote  and  barbarous  countries.  Lamas  and  Santons  ramble 
securely  where  merchants  and  philosophers  perish ;  and  the  sanctity  of 
madness,  more  than  that  of  poetry,  would  enable  Aristeas  to  realize  the 
boast  of  Horace  '. 

XXXVn. — It  is  apparent,  however,  on  a  comparison  between  the 
accounts  of  Herodotus  and  Aristeas,  and  still  more  on  attending  to  the 
circumstances  detailed  by  the  first  concerning  the  emigrations  of  the  Sco- 
loti, that  when  he  places  their  original  seat  on  the  banks  of  the  Araxes, 
he  does  not  mean  the  Armenian  river  of  that  name,  but  some  one  of  the 

'  Visam  Britannos  hospitibus  feros, 
Et  laetum  equino  sanguine  Concanum  : 
Visam  pharetratos  Gelonos, 
Et  Scytliicum  inviolatus  amnem. 

Aristeas  pretended  to  have  followed  Apollo  in  the  shape  of  a  raven.  His  testimony,  as 
to  what  he  knew  himself,  in  no  material  respect  contradicts  that  of  Herodotus  ;  since  the 
Issedones,  no  less  than  the  Massagetse,  may  have  had  wars  with  the  Scythians,  and  would,  no 
doubt,  boast  of  having  driven  tliem  westward. 


HISTORY  OF  THE  COSSAKS.  603 

mighty  floods  of  Eastern  Tartary,  and  most  probably  the  Oxus  or  Jaxartes.  appen- 
For,  if  their  previous  habitation  liad  been,  as  the  usual  interpretation  of  =:^J= 
the  passage  requires,  to  the  southward  of  what  is  now  called  the  Araxes, 
and  in  the  province  of  Ghiban,  the  Massagetae,  or  Issedones — tribes  seated 
to  the  north-east  of  the  Caspian,  could  by  no  means  have  driven  them 
across  the  river  in  the  direction  of  Scythia,  unless  they  had  first  made  a 
way  to  them  through  the  whole  of  Media,  an  event  of  which  history 
makes  no  mention,  and  which  is  in  itself  highly  improbable.  And,  if  this 
mighty  army  of  emigrants  had  advanced  against  the  Cimmerians  from  the 
side  of  Caucasus,  it  is  absurd  to  suppose  that  these  last  would  fly  before 
them  in  the  exact  direction  which  was  hkely  to  bring  them  together ;  or 
that  the  Scythians,  on  finding  their  enemy  gone,  would  return  to  seek  him 
by  the  very  way  which  they  had  themselves  so  lately  traversed,  and  along 
which  they  had  been  pursued  by  the  tremendous  Massagetee.  It  is,  above 
all,  incredible,  that  if  they  were  a  Caucasian  or  Armenian  race,  they  should 
have  lost  their  way,  as  Herodotus  assures  us  they  did,  amid  their  own  na- 
tive mountains,  or  on  that  Median  frontier  which  must  have  been  previ- 
ously familiar  by  frequent  and  nuitual  forays.  It  is  apparent,  indeed,  from 
all  the  circumstances  of  the  description  of  the  Araxes  by  Herodotus ;  its 
mighty  size;  its  numerous  islands  ;  the  uncertainty  which  prevailed  whether 
it  fell  into  the  Caspian  Sea,  or  into  a  distinct  lake,  that  the  Oxus  is  the  only 
river  to  which  his  expressions  can  belong ;  and  that  the  phrase  of  its  flow- 
ing to  the  east,  which  has  been  applied  to  the  course  of  its  stream,  and 
has  been  therefore  supposed  to  identify  it  with  the  Araxes  of  later  geogra- 
phers, is  to  be  understood  to  mean,  that  the  river  forms  the  north-eastern 
boundary  of  the  Persian  empire.  Were  it  otherwise,  Cyrus  would  not  have 
crossed  it  to  attack  the  Massagetae  ;  nor,  as  we  have  seen,  could  these  last, 
without  a  miracle,  have  been  the  cause  of  the  great  Scythian  emigi-ation. 
And  this  north-eastern  origin  of  the  Scoloti  is  still  further  confirmed  by 
the  apparent  connection  which  existed  between  them  and  the  Sacae  of 
Turkestan,  who  really  had  the  Massagetae  for  neighbours,  and  who  are 
expressly  called  a  race  of  Scythians,  not  only  by  Arrian  and  Justin,  but 
also  by  Herodotus.  And  this  last  writer,  it  may  be  observed,  so  carefully 
distinguishes  the  people  in  question  from  the  Massagetae,  the  Sauromatse, 
and  other  wandering  tribes,  that  it  is  evident  the  name  of  Scythian  was  not, 
Uke  our  modern  phrase  of  Tartar,  indiscriminately  applied  to  the  pastoral 
nations  of  Northern  Asia,  but  appropriated,  at  least  in  early  times,  to  a 
peculiar  race  and  language. 

4  H  2 


C04  HISTORY  OF  THE  COSSAKS. 

APPEN-  XXXVIII. — We  have  seen  the  Cimmerians  flying  before  the  Scoloti  in 

"'•^"  the  same  manner  as,  in  after  ages,  the  Goths  fled  before  the  banners  of 
Attila :  and  we  have  seen  them  (in  this  also  resembhng  the  Goths)  caiTy 
destruction  and  havoc  into  the  countries  which  yielded  them  an  asylum. 
But  the  miseries  of  Asia  were  not  to  terminate  with  the  expulsion  of  these 
unruly  guests  by  Halyattes,  since  their  pursuers  also  were  at  hand,  and  in 
their  hostility  against  the  Cimmerians,  found  an  excuse  or  a  motive  for  the 
invasion  of  the  countries  whither  they  had  fled  ;  but  ignorant  of  the  dis- 
trict of  Caucasus,  or  of  the  exact  tract  which  the  Cimmerians  had  followed, 
the  Scythians  marched,  with  the  mountains  on  the  right  hand  and  the 
Caspian  Sea  on  their  left ;  and  were  thus  conducted,  not  into  Lydia,  but 
into  the  equally  opulent  and  fertile  kingdom  of  the  Medes.  To  these  last 
the  Sacae  were  doubtless  well-known  as  troublesome  neighbours  on  their 
eastern  frontier ;  and  Cyaxares,  who  then  sat  on  the  throne  of  Ecbatana, 
had,  some  years  before,  experienced  a  lamentable  proof  of  the  vindictive 
and  bloody  temper  of  these  wanderers,  a  small  party  of  whom  he  had  re- 
tained in  his  service  as  huntsmen.  But  from  the  north-west,  and  through 
tlie  passes  of  Caucasus,  so  great  a  storm  had  never  proceeded  before  ;  and 
the  whole  tenour  of  Persian  history,  or  romance,  is  evidence  how  much 
Upper  Asia  suffered  from  this  unexpected  irruption  of  the  warriors  of 
Toiiran.  Yet  the  Medes  at  that  time  were  among  the  most  warlike  na- 
tions of  the  world,  and  Cyaxares  one  of  the  greatest  captains  of  his  age  ; 
the  first,  if  we  believe  Herodotus,  who  had  introduced  the  division  of  armies 
into  regular  and  distinct  bodies  of  infantry  and  cavalry,  heavy-armed 
troops  and  archers ;  and  he  was  then  occupied  by  the  siege  of  Nineveh,  when 
he  was  called  off  by  the  arrival  of  this  new  and  tremendous  enemy.  He 
was  overpowered  in  one  decisive  battle  by  the  cavalry  of  his  invaders  ;  he 
himself  and  his  nobles  fled  to  the  mountains  ;  and  the  Scolot  chief,  Madyes, 
son  of  Protothnias,  during  the  space  of  eight-and-twenty  years,  governed 
or  ravaged  Asia  from  the  Caspian  to  the  River  of  Egyi^t.  Their  cavalry, 
however,  was  prevented  from  entering  Egypt  itself,  either  by  the  inter- 
sected and  marshy  nature  of  the  country,  or  by  the  submission  and  tribute 
of  its  rulers.  A  disease  of  a  doubtful  and  unusual  nature,  which  is  de- 
scribed by  Herodotus  in  too  general  terms  to  enable  us  to  give  it  a  modern 
name,  assafled  and  weakened  their  army  in  its  return  through  Palestine, 
and  was  imputed  by  the  Pagans  to  the  revenge  of  Venus,  whose  temple  in 
Ascalon  they  had  plundered.  On  their  retreat  into  Media,  the  Scythian 
nobles  incautiously  accepted  a  treacherous  in\'itation  to  a  banquet,  where 


HISTORY  OF  THE  COSSAKS.  605 

they  were  all  murdered  by  Cyaxares  :  the  remnant  of  their  nation,  dis-    appkn- 
pirited  and  discontented,  fell  back  into  the  same  northern  solitudes  whence  == 
they  had  first  expelled  the  Cimmerians. 

XXXIX. — This  terrible  inroad,  the  first  we  have  any  certain  account 
of,  in  which  the  northern  tribes  rushed  forward  to  the  milder  climate  and 
richer  soil  of  the  south,  might  reasonably  be  expected  to  have  found  a  place 
in  the  sacred  writings  of  the  Jews,  whose  country  must  have  been,  during 
a  considerable  time,  while  the  Scythians  were  arranging  their  terms  with 
Egypt,  the  scene  of  their  encampments ;  and  contained  the  ancient  city 
of  Bethshan,  in  after  times,  and  in  memory  of  this  inroad,  called  Scy- 
thopolis '.  And  there  is  some  reason  to  conclude  that  the  invasion  of 
Palestine  by  the  Scythians  is  described  by  the  Prophet  Ezekiel,  who  has, 
under  the  name  of  "  Gog,  chief  prince  of  Meshech  and  Tubal,"  painted  in 
very  lively  colours  the  peculiarities  of  a  predatory  army  like  theirs.  Very 
different  explanations  have  indeed  been  hitherto  given  of  this  famous  pas- 
sage ;  so,  though  the  digression  be  somewhat  long,  I  may  hope  for  pardon 
from  my  readers,  if  I  draw  their  attention  from  the  Scoloti  themselves,  to 
the  effects  wliich  they  produced  on  the  more  ci\ilized  nations  of  the  world, 
and  to  accomplish  which  they  were  the  destined  and  predicted  instruments 
of  Providence. 

XL. — The  substance  of  the  prophecy  is  briefly  as  follows : — At  some 
period,  when  the  people  of  the  Jews  should  be  in  part  restored  to  their  na- 
tive country,  and  before  they  had  repaired  the  walls  of  their  cities  -,  a 
northern  nation  or  potentate,  who  is  called  by  Ezekiel  "  Gog,"  bringing 
with  him,  as  subjects  or  allies,  many  nations  therein  enumerated,  was  to 
invade  Israel  with  a  mighty  army ;  they  were  to  be  all  horsemen,  equipped, 
according  to  the  authors  of  the  Septuagint  version,  who  best  knew  the 
dresses  and  armour  usual  in  their  own  time,  with  small  Amazonian  ^  targets; 
with  bonnets,  fillets,  or  tiaras ;  with  swords  and  bows.  They  were  to  be 
actuated  by  the  hope  of  plunder  and  slaves  ;  and  their  loose  array  and  pre- 
datory character  is  beautifully  expressed  by  their  "  covering  the  country 
like  a  cloud."  They  were,  however,  to  be  destroyed  by  some  evident 
interposition  of  the  Almighty,  by  storm,  pestilence,  and  some  great  dissen- 
sion among  themselves,  which  was  to  turn  every  man's  sword  against  his 
neighbour.  The  Jews  themselves  are  not  mentioned  as  having  any  active 
hand  in  their  defeat,  but  were  to  bury  their  corpses  and  burn  their  bows  ; 

'  Reland.  Palestine  de  Urb.  a  Vicis.  Art.  Scythopolis. 

'   Ezekielxxxviii.il.  '   IltXrai,  irtpii-EyiaXatat. — LXX. 


(iOG  HISTORY  OF  THE  COSSAKS. 

APPEx-  and  a  district  and  city  of  Israel  was  to  receive  anew  name  from  this  inroad, 
and  the  ruin  of  the  invaders.^These  prophecies  are  apphed  by  Cahnet  to 
Cambyses  ',  who  was  a  bloody  tyrant  doubtless,  and  who  perished  by  a  sin- 
gular accident  at  Ecbatana,  near  Mount  Carmel ;  by  Grotius,  to  Antiochus 
Epiphanes  ;  by  Lowth  and  others,  to  some  modern  or  future  potentate, 
who  should,  in  the  last  ages  of  the  world,  disturb  the  peace  of  the  Chris- 
tian Church,  and  impede  the  conversion  or  the  restoration  of  the  Jews. 

XLI. — But  "  Gog  and  Magog"  have,  by  the  common  testimony  and 
tradition  of  the  east,  been  referred  to  the  nations  north  of  Caucasus ;  and 
cannot,  therefore,  be  with  any  propriety  applied  to  either  Persian,  or  Syrian, 
or  Macedonian  kings  and  armies,  of  whom  the  first  would  have  been  called 
in  Scripture  Elam,  or  Msedai ;  the  second  and  third  either  Aram,  Chittim, 
or  Javan.  We  have  no  reason  to  suppose  that  Cambyses  was  activeh/  hos- 
tile to  the  Jews ;  and  it  is  directly  contrary  to  history  that  his  army  fell 
either  by  pestilence  or  sword  on  the  mountains  of  Israel.  Nor  were  the 
Persians  of  those  days  an  equestrian  nation.  The  arguments  against  the 
identity  of  Gog  with  Antiochus  Epiphanes,  are  yet  stronger.  Of  the  na- 
tions enumerated  by  Ezekiel  as  Gog's  vassals,  very  few  were  subject  to 
Antiochus.  Instead  of  all  his  army  being  horse,  he  had  but  a  very  mode- 
rate proportion  of  cavalry  ;  while,  at  the  same  time,  he  had  many  elephants, 
a  description  of  force  which  the  prophet  would  hardly  have  omitted  in  a 
poetical  painting.  His  most  remarkable  and  characteristic  weapons  were 
not  those  ascribed  to  Gog  by  Ezekiel,  but  the  long  pikes  and  massive 
shield  of  a  Macedonian  phalanx.  Judea,  instead  of  being  a  land  of  un- 
walled  villages,  was,  in  his  time,  filled  with  fortresses  ;  and  so  far  from  the 
defeat  of  his  army  being  produced  by  pestilence  and  dissension,  it  w^as 
ascribable  to  the  valour  of  the  Jews  under  the  Maccabee  princes.  Against 
those,  lastly,  who  refer  the  fulfilment  of  this  prophecy  to  modern  or  future 
times,  it  may  be  in-ged,  that  the  bows  and  shields  of  Gog  are  not  charac- 
teristic of  a  modern  army ;  and  that  the  general  tenour  of  Ezekiel  appears 
to  fix  the  coming  of  this  invader  to  a  time  anterior  to  the  building  of  the 
second  temple.  With  the  Scythian  inroad  it  has  not  yet  been  compared  ; 
but  this  last  hypothesis  will  be  found,  perhaps,  less  liable  to  the  objections 
and  obscurities  which  have  perplexed  the  more  sober  train  of  enquirers  into 
the  meaning  of  these  prophecies,  and  have  produced  the  strangest  political 
visions  in  interpreters  of  a  more  sanguine  turn. 

XLI  I. — By  far  the  greater  number  of  the  predictions  given  by  Ezekiel 

'  Calmet  Dissert,  sur  Ezeluel. 
9 


HISTORY  OF  THE  COSSAKS.  607 

relate  to  events  which  were  very  speedily  to  follow  ;  and  it  is,  perhaps,  on    ai'pe.x- 

this  account  that  he  is,  of  all  the  prophets,  the  most  exact  in  fixing  the '-- — 

date  of  their  publication,  because  on  this  date  depended  the  evidence  of  the 
priority  of  the  prophecy  to  its  accomphshment.  Now  the  curse  denounced 
on  Gog  is  apparently  a  part  of  that  vision  or  revelation  of  the  Divine  will, 
which  Ezekiel  professes  to  have  received  in  "  the  twelfth  year  of  our  cap- 
tivity, in  the  tenth  month,  and  fifth  day  of  the  month  ',"  in  which  he  in- 
veighs against  the  lawless  and  predatory  habits  of  those  who,  after  the 
taking  of  Jerusalem  by  Nebuchadnezzar,  continued  to  inhabit  "  the  wastes 
of  the  land  of  Israel,"  and  threatens  them  with  a  still  heavier  calamity,  and 
destruction  still  more  hopeless  than  that  which  had  already  befallen  their 
nation.  The  date,  then,  of  Ezekicl's  prophecy  being  obtained,  there  is,  it 
may  be  observed,  a  very  remarkable  event  recorded  by  Herodotus,  which 
enables  us  to  fix  within  a  few  years  the  period  at  which  the  Scythians  in- 
vaded Media,  and  places  the  great  calamity  almost  forty  years  later  than 
Dean  Prideaux  and  most  other  chronologers  have  supposed.  This  event 
is  the  total  eclipse  of  the  sun,  which  Thales,  the  Milesian,  had  calculated, 
and  which  occurred  on  the  day  of  a  great  battle  between  the  Medes  and 
Lydians,  and,  as  is  generally  beheved,  in  the  year  before  Christ,  601.  In 
what  year  of  the  reign  of  Cyaxares  this  took  place,  we  are  not  told  ;  but  as 
it  was  at  the  close  of  a  five  years'  war  between  that  sovereign  and  the  Lydi- 
ans, occasioned  by  the  protection  afforded  by  these  last  to  the  fugitive  Scy- 
thian hunters  who  had  murdered  their  royal  pupil,  we  cannot  conveniently 
place  it  earlier  than  his  sixth  or  seventh  year.  But  the  whole  reign  of 
Cyaxares  was  forty  years,  during  twenty-eight  of  which  the  Scoloti  were  in 
military  possession  of  Asia ;  and  as,  after  their  expulsion,  we  cannot  allow 
him  less  than  three  years  to  re-estabhsh  his  power  and  subdue  Nineveh,  so 
an  equal  time  must  be  allowed  between  the  eclipse  .above  mentioned  and 
tlieir  invasion,  during  which  time  Cyaxares  made  peace  with  Alyattes,  by 
the  mediation  of  Labjnietus,  king  of  Babylon  ^ ;  married  the  Lydian  prin- 
cess, Ariene ;  and,  after  collecting  a  great  army,  defeated  the  Assyrians, 
and  was  actually  employed  in  the  first  siege  of  Nineveh  when  Madyes  and 
his  hordes  assailed  him.  The  invasion,  then,  of  Madyes  may  be  safely 
placed  in  the  year  before  Christ  598,  being  the  one  after  the  first  taking  of 
Jerusalem  by  Nebuchadnezzar,  and  being,  therefore,  the  second  year  of 
Ezekiel's  captivity.     It  may  be  furtlxer  collected  from  the  narrative  of  Hero- 

'  Ezekiel  xxxiii.  21.  '  Clio  74. 


(JOS  HISTORY  OF  THE  COSSAKS. 

Ai'i'KN-  (lotus,  that  the  final  expulsion  of  the  Scythians  from  Media  took  place  very 
'  "  -  soon  after  their  return  from  the  Egyptian  expedition ;  and,  indeed,  many 
years  were  likely  to  have  been  consumed  in  their  previous  subjugation  of 
Upper  Asia.  Fixing,  therefore,  their  advance  against  Egypt  to  the  twenty- 
fourth  year  after  their  entrance  into  Mecha,  or  to  t^e  twenty-fifth  year  of 
Ezekiel's  captivity,  a  space  of  thirteen  years  will  be  found  to  intervene  be- 
tween the  date  of  this  prediction  and  the  passage  of  the  Scoloti  through 
Israel  and  Judea. 

XLIII. — Dming  the  period  which  elapsed  between  Zedekiah's  death 
and  the  return  of  Ezra  with  the  nobility  and  priests  to  Jerusalem,  it  is  ap- 
parent that  the  great  body  of  the  common  people  remained  in  Judah. 
Nebuchadnezzar  only  carried  away  four  thousand  six  hundred  persons ;  the 
emigrants  who  fled  with  Gedaliah  into  Egypt,  do  not  appear  to  have  been 
very  numerous ;  and  several  of  these  last,  and  many  of  those  who  had  been 
carried  away  by  Esarhaddon  and  Nebuchadnezzar,  returned  from  time  to 
time  to  their  native  country ;  where  Ezra,  who  does  not  describe  the  land 
as  uninhabitable,  undoubtedly  found  a  resident  population  to  receive  the 
forty-two  thousand  who  returned  with  him.  And  these  were  the  people 
living  without  laws  and  in  scattered  villages,  whom  Ezekiel  menaces 
with  calamities  subsequent  to  the  destruction  of  their  city  by  Nebuchad- 
nezzar. The  circumstances,  therefore,  of  the  Jews,  at  the  time  of  the 
Scythian  invasion,  precisely  tally  with  those  under  which  Gog,  with  his 
kindred  hordes,  was  to  assail  them.  Nor  can  any  other  time  be  mentioned 
in  which  the  children  of  Israel  dwelt  "  safely,"  or,  as  the  word  may  be 
rendered,  "  carelessly,"  or  "  lawlessly,"  without  walls  or  fortified  cities. 
Moreover,  the  names  of  those  nations  who  were  to  compose  the  army  of 
Gog,  nearly  correspond  with  the  circumstances  of  the  Scythian  inroad ;  as 
will  appear  from  the  following  observations.  That  "  Gog"  itself  is  the 
usual  name  for  the  nations  north  of  Caucasus,  we  have  the  authority  of 
Bochart,  and  of  the  uniform  traditions  of  the  east,  which  have  always 
dignified  the  defences  raised  by  the  Persian  sovereigns  against  the  Tartars 
with  the  name  of  "  the  ramparts  of  Gog  and  Magog."  In  like  manner, 
"  Tubal,  Meshech,  and  Togarmah,"  (who  were  all  descendants  of  Japheth, 
and  whom  we  find  in  other  passages  of  Ezekiel,  trading  to  the  fairs  of  Tyre 
with  the  usual  Scythian  merchandise  of  slaves  and  horses)  are  always 
placed  in  the  north  ;  and  the  two  last-named  patriarchs  may  be  regarded, 
perhaps,  as  the  ancestors  of  the  Massagetfe  and  Turkish  tribes.  Nor, 
when  we  recollect  how  easily  the  Huns  induced  the  conquered  nations  of 


HISTORY  OF  THE  COSSAKS. 


009 


DIX. 


the  north,  to  unite  under  their  banner,  and  aid  their  further  progress  appen- 
against  a  feeble  and  wealthy  enemy,  can  we  be  surprised  to  find  so  many 
other  tribes  associated  with  the  Scoloti  in  an  enterprize  so  promising,  as 
the  invasion  of  Mecha  and  Egypt  ?  Elam  and  Gomer,  the  Persians  and 
Cunmerians,  are  found  accordingly,  among  the  allies  or  subjects  of  Gog  ;  as 
well  as  Cush  and  Phut,  the  descendants  of  that  Egyptian  colony  which 
Sesostris  left  on  the  coasts  of  the  Euxine.  But  of  all  these  nations  the  pre- 
dominant character  would  be  Scythian ;  their  arms  and  equipments  would 
be  formed  after  the  same  model,  and  the  main  object  of  their  invasion 
would  be  doubtless  slaves  and  booty. 

XLIV. — For  the  circumstances  of  their  retreat  from  the  frontiers  of 
Egj'pt,  as  the  Jews  who  were  resident  in  their  own  country  had  then  no  his- 
torian, it  is  useless  to  weary  conjecture.  We  may  recollect,  howevei",  that  it 
was  the  custom  of  the  heathen  nations  to  ascribe  to  their  own  gods,  what- 
ever act  of  miraculous  power  had  been  displayed  by  Jehovah  :  and  that  the 
Egyptians  attributed  to  the  interposition  of  Vulcan  the  destruction  of  the 
Assyrian  army  under  Sennacherib  \  This  being  considered,  it  may  strike 
even  a  careless  observer  as  a  remarkable  coincidence,  that  the  Almighty 
threatens  by  his  prophets  "  to  plead  against  Gog  by  pestilence  and  blood ;" 
and  that  Herodotus  tells  us  that  in  consequence  of  their  having  pillaged 
the  temple  of  Venus  in  Ascalon,  the  Scythians  were  afflicted  by  a  strange 
and  grievous  disorder,  and  were  so  much  reduced  in  numbers,  as  shortly 
after  to  be  expelled  from  Asia  by  a  very  trifling  effort  of  the  Medes.  It 
may  then  be  thought  that  the  miserable  remnant  of  resident  Israelites  were 
at  this  time  afflicted  by  a  new  invader,  but  rescued  from  utter  ruin  by  a 
proAidential  and,  probably,  a  miraculous  deliverance  ;  that  this  Scythian 
inroad  was,  however,  the  term  of  their  calamities ;  and  that  thenceforward 
the  restoration  of  their  country  gradually  proceeded  till  the  return  of  Ezra, 
and  the  rebuilding  of  the  temple.  And,  lastly,  that  Bethshan,  a  district 
and  city  near  the  sea  of  Gennesareth,  became  from  that  time,  under  its  new 
name  of  Scythopolis,  in  the  expressive  language  of  the  Septuagint  trans- 
lation TOnOS  ONOMASTOS  TQ  TOF  2HMEI0N  EN  ISPAHA. 

XLV. — I  am  not  insensible  to  the  arguments  which  may  be  used 
against  my  hypothesis,  and  feel  that  many  difficulties  will  even  yet  remain 
unexplained  in  this  remarkable  prophecy.  If,  however,  it  should  be  urged 
that  Prideaux  places  the  Scythian  invasion  almost  forty  years  earlier  than 
I  have  done,  I  would  merely  refer  my  readers  to  the  text  of  Herodotus, 

'  Euterpe  141. 
VOL.    I.  4    I 


610  HISTORY  OF  THE  COSSAKS. 

APPEX-    which  that  learned  person  has  m  this  place  strangely  misconceived ;  since 
--    "  '  -  it  is  apparent  that  the  solar  eclipse  occurred,  not  after  the  expulsion  of  the 
Scoloti  from  Asia,  but  before  their  entrance  into  it ' ;  and  I  would  further 
add,  that  had  the  Scythian  army  passed  through  the  land  of  Israel  and 
Judah  twice  (and  such  a  race  would  not  have  passed  without  leaving  their 
track  in  blood  and  fire)  during  the  reigns  of  Josiah,  Jehoiakim,or  Zedekiah, 
we  should  have  had,  doubtless,  a  regular  account  of  the  circumstance  from 
the  contemporary  prophets  and  historians.     Some  may  perhaps  object  that 
the  arrival  of  Gog  is  placed  by  Ezekiel  "  after  many  days" — "  in  the  latter 
years ;"  and  that  he  is  said  to  have  been  "  spoken  of  in  old  time  by  the  pro- 
phets of  Israel."     But  length  of  time  is  merely  comparative  ;  and  thirteen 
or  fourteen  years  is  a  terrible  duration  for  a  tyranny  so  wild  and  outrageous 
as  that  which  Herodotus  ascribes  to  the  Scythians  in  Asia,  and  which  had 
already  continued  ten  or  twelve  years.     "  In  the  latter  years"  is  only  a 
simple  periphrasis  for  "  at  length  ^,"  as  "  in  old  time"  may  merely  signify 
beforehand ;  while  the  expression,  "  many  years,"  in  our  translation,  is  not 
warranted  either  by  the  original  or  the  Septuagint.     In  the  reference  to 
former  prophets,  Joel  is  apparently  intended,  though  some  passages   in 
Isaiah  himself  have  a  seeming  relation  to  Gog.     Another  objection  which 
occurs  to  me  is,  that  the  Almighty  promises,  after  the  destruction  of  Gog, 
to  have  mercy  "  on  the  whole  house  of  Israel,  and  that  he  would  "  hide 
his  face  from  them  no  more."     These  are  passages  which  have  induced  many 
interpreters  to  refer  the  prophecy  to  the  future  and  final  re-establishment 
of  the  Jews,  and  their  conversion  to  Christianity,  but  which  are  very  capa- 
ble of  another  explanation,  since  Ezra  uses  the  same  expression  of  "  all 
Israel"  to  those  who  returned  with  him  to  Jerusalem ;  and  since  the  same 
notions  of  final  restoration  are  coupled  by  Isaiah  with  the  decree  of  Cyrus. 
It  is  evident,  indeed,  from  many  texts  both  in  the  Old  and  New  Testaments, 
that  this  return  from  Babylon  included  many  individuals  and  families  of  all 
the  twelve  tribes ;  and  it  was  certainly  true  that  God  thenceforward  never 
abandoned  His  people  or  His  sanctuary,  till  He  came,  in  whom  the  whole 
law  of  Moses  and  expectations  of  Israel  were  sealed  up  and  accomplished. 
It  may,  lastly,  be  objected  that  the  burial-place  of  Gog  was  to  be  "  east  of 
the  sea,"  an  expression  which  certainly  does  not  apply  to  Scythopolis.     But 
the  Hebrew  word  dp  more  frequently  signifies  "  before,"  or  "  towards," 
than  "  eastward  of;"  and  it  is  in  the  first  of  these  senses  that  the  seventy 
interpreters  have  in  this  place  translated  it.     I  need  hardly  observe,  that 

'  Clio  73,  104.  '  Grotius  ad  loc. 


HISTORY  OF  THE  COSSAKS.  611 

the  above  hypothesis  as  to  the  primary  meaning  and  fulfihnent  of  Ezekiel's   appen- 
prophecy,  does  by  no  means  interfere  with  the  appHcation  of  many  of  its  "  - 

military  terms  and  poetical  images  by  the  author  of  the  Apocalypse,  to  a 
fiitm-e  and,  most  probably,  a  spiritual  victory  of  Christ  and  his  saints  over 
the  powers  of  the  earth  and  hell  in  the  last  ages  of  the  world. 

For  this  long  digression  on  a  subject  which  may  seem,  perhaps,  not  very 
closely  connected  with  the  history  of  Scythia,  I  am  sensible  that  an  apology 
is  necessary ;  but  if  it  save  the  world  from  a  repetition  of  certain  applications 
of  the  characters  of  Gog  and  Magog  to  modern  times  and  tyrants,  one  good 
end  at  least  vn\\  have  been  obtained  by  it,  and  neither  my  labour  nor  that 
of  my  readers  will  have  been  entirely  thrown  away  '. 

XLVI. — One  strange  consequence  is  asserted  by  Herodotus  to  have 
followed  from  the  long  campaign  of  the  Scythians  in  Media,  which  is,  how- 
ever, too  preposterous  to  be  worth  mentioning,  had  not  modern  compilers, 
gi-avely  and  without  suspicion,  retailed  it  on  his  authority.  Their  wives, 
whom  they  had  left  in  Scythia,  manied,  during  their  absence,  their  bond- 
slaves ;  and  these  last,  or  their  offspring,  took  up  arms  to  resist  the  return 
of  their  rightful  lords  ^  With  the  bow  and  the  sabre  both  sides  were 
equal ;  but  when  the  Scythians  brandished  their  whips  against  these  refrac- 

'  Theodoret  supposes  the  invasion  of  Gog  to  have  occurred  in  the  time  of  Zorobabel. 
But  had  it  then  occurred,  it  would  have  been  most  probably  recorded  by  Ezra  or  Nehe- 
miah.  He  calls  however,  Gog,  Mesheck,  and  Thobel,  all  Scythians ;  and  assures  us,  on  the 
authority  of  the  ancient  Rabbins  (which  singidarly  corresponds  with  the  statement  of  Hero- 
dotus) that  the  northern  nations  made,  about  this  time,  a  notable  inroad  into  Palestine. — Ptiaiy 
0(  Kara  Katpoy  ytvofieyoi  ei;i:\i}(Tiag  ^(.Satri:a\oi  Tavra  ra  edrrj  tirkuTpaTtvaai  Tti  lovSatq. — Theo- 
doret. Tom.  ii.  p.  513.     Ed.  Par.  1642. 

'  It  is  not  very  easy  to  discover  from  the  statement  of  Herodotus,  whether  they  were 
the  adulterous  lovers  of  the  Scythian  women  who  opposed  the  return  of  their  masters,  or  the 
children  who  had  grown  up  from  this  intercourse  during  the  twenty-eight  years  absence  of 
their  husbands.  The  Scythian  slaves  were  blind  ;  so  that  the  first  supposition  seems  out  of  the 
question.  Yet  the  trench  dug  to  oppose  the  return  of  the  invaders  of  Media,  was  called  the 
"  trench  of  the  blind,"  which  seems  to  make  it  their  work.  And  it  is  equally  preposterous  to 
suppose  that  the  children  of  slaves,  who  had  grown  up  during  their  masters'  absence,  could 
have  any  fear  or  habitual  reverence  for  whips  whicli  they  had  never  felt.  On  the  whole,  it 
may  be  thought,  perhaps,  that  if  there  be  any  truth  in  the  story,  they  were  the  slaves  them- 
selves who  mutinied  ;  and  that  the  cruel  precaution  of  blinding  them  was  occasioned  by 
their  rebellion,  and  had  not  been  practised  till  then.  The  entrenchment,  which  extends  from 
Iski  Crim  to  Arabat,  has  been  regarded  by  many  as  a  work  of  the  Bosphorites.  But  Strabo 
(1.  xi  )  regards  it  as  Cimmerian  ;  and  it  is  plain,  from  the  history  of  Herodotus,  that  it  existed 
before  the  Bosphorites  had  settled  on  that  coast. 

4.  I  2 


612  HISTORY  OF  THE  COSSAKS. 


DIX. 


APPEN-  tory  domestics,  the  well-known  instrument  of  correction,  which  the  disuse 
of  eight-and-twenty  years  had  not,  it  seems,  obliterated  from  the  recollec- 
tion of  the  mutineers,  at  once  put  them  to  flight. — It  is  evident  that  this 
story  must  be  either  false  or  greatly  exaggerated,  since  the  Scythian  natives 
were  in  the  habit,  not  of  leaving  their  wives  and  flocks  behind  them  de- 
fenceless, but  of  emigrating  vfith.  all  their  wealth  and  connections  about 
them ;  and  since  the  effect  imputed  to  a  brandished  horse-whip  surpasses 
all  power  of  belief.  But  it  is  certain  that  a  vallum,  or  trench,  of  very  con- 
siderable dimensions  still  exists,  extending  from  Iski  Crim  to  the  neighbour- 
hood of  Arabat,  in  the  exact  situation  in  vvhich  Herodotus  places  the  en- 
trenchment of  these  slaves ;  so  that  there  was,  doubtless,  some  foundation 
for  this  extravagant  story,  though  at  present  it  may  be  impossible  to  sepa- 
rate the  truth  from  its  attendant  falsehood  and  exaggeration. 

XLVII. — For  a  considerable  space  of  time,  no  more  is  certainly  known 
of  the  history  of  the  Scythians.  Like  those,  indeed,  of  most  other  barba- 
rous nations,  their  annals,  if  we  possessed  them,  would  probably  contain 
very  little  which  could  interest  or  gratify  curiosity  ;  and  even  the  expedi- 
tion against  their  country  by  Darius,  king  of  Persia,  is  an  event  of  which 
the  details  are  too  familiarly  known  to  most  of  my  readers,  to  require  any 
lengthy  comment.  Herodotus  ascribes  it  to  a  desire  on  the  part  of  Darius 
to  revenge  the  invasion  of  Media,  one  hundred  and  fifty-two  years  before. 
Ctesias,  with  more  apparent  reason,  regards  it  as  the  consequence  of  a 
slave-trading  scheme  of  Priaramnes,  Satrap  of  Cappadocia,  who,  having 
sent  thirty  small  vessels  to  ravage  the  coast  of  Scythia,  encouraged  his 
government  to  undertake  a  similar,  but  far  more  extensive  effort  for  the  sub- 
jugation of  the  whole  covmtry.  The  expedition  of  Darius  was,  if  we  believe 
Ctesias,  confined  to  the  deserts  of  Bessarabia ;  and  his  retreat  was  rendered 
chiefly  unfortunate  by  the  destruction  of  his  bridge  over  the  Danube,  and 
the  consequent  loss  of  the  rear  of  his  vast  army.  Nor  can  I  help  regarding 
this  account  as  far  more  probable  than  the  progress  ascribed  to  the  Per- 
sians by  Herodotus,  through  a  desert  and  almost  waterless  country,  under 
circumstances  which  must  apparently  have  destroyed  any  army,  however 
fi-ugal  or  well-provided.  But  to  whatever  extent  the  army  of  Darius  over- 
ran the  country,  it  is  probable  that  by  this  expedition,  and  the  naval  one 
of  Priaramnes  to  the  sea  of  Azoph  and  the  Don,  the  greater  part  of 
European  Scythia  became  known  both  to  the  Greeks  and  Persians ;  and 
this  knowledge  was  soon  after  considerably  extended  by  the  settlements 
which  the  former  people  effected  on  the  coast  of  the  Tauric  Chersonese, 


HISTORY  OF  THE  COSSAKS.  618 

and  at  the  mouth  of  the  principal  rivers.     The  accounts  of  these  settlers,    appen- 
dix 
however,  as  collected  by  Herodotus,  are  very  difficult  to  reconcile  with  the  ■_ 

present  face  of  the  country,  which,  wide  as  it  is,  has  hardly  room  for  the 
various  tribes  whom  he  enumerates,  and  into  which,  with  the  usual  lot  of 
barbarous  nations,  the  Scoloti  soon  divided  themselves.  West  of  the 
Borysthenes,  and  in  a  situation  admirably  adapted  for  agiicultm'e,  the  two 
famiUes  of  Callipidse  and  Halizones,  the  first  of  Greek,  the  second  of  un- 
certain origin,  were  distinguished  from  the  Scythians  by  their  habit  of  tilling 
the  gi-Qund  and  feeding  on  bread.  Next  to  them  were  the  Scythian 
ploughmen,  who  had  already  so  far  unlearnt  their  pastoral  habits  as  to 
cultivate  corn  for  sale,  though  not  for  their  own  consumption.  Of  the 
Neuri  further  north  no  information  is  given,  and  they  do  not  appear  to 
have  been  a  Scythian  people.  East  of  the  Borysthenes,  a  maritime  and 
uninhabited  district  was  knowTi  by  the  name  of  Hylasa,  "  the  Woodland ;" 
to  the  north  of  Hylaea  the  same  bank  of  the  river  was  occupied  by 
another  race  of  agiicultural  Scythians,  and  above  them,  by  a  nation  dis- 
tinct from  the  Scythians,  and  called  by  Herodotus  the  "  Man-eaters  ',"  or, 
from  the  colour  of  their  garments,  "  the  Black-mantles,"  or  Melanchljeni. 
These  extended  far  to  the  eastward,  and  formed  the  northern  boundary  of 
the  several  tribes  of  "  Grazing  and  Royal  Scythians."  The  first  of  these 
inhabited  a  space  of  fourteen  days'  journey  between  the  rivers  Panticape 
and  Gerrhus.  The  second  had  the  Gerrhus  for  their  western  boundary ;  for 
their  southern,  the  country  of  the  Tauri,  while  to  the  east  they  were  partly 
contained  by  the  Tanais,  and  partly  by  the  entrenchment  formerly  men- 
tioned as  erected  by  the  mutinous  offspring  of  the  slaves.  Beyond  the 
Tanais  were  the  Sauromatae ;  and  to  the  north  of  these  last,  a  numerous 
and  red-haired  nation,  called  Budini,  among  whom  Herodotus  places  a 
colony  of  degenerate  Greeks,  fugitives  from  the  various  factories  established 
by  that  nation  on  the  coast,  but  who  still  cultivated  the  gi'ound,  and  in 
their  wooden  city  of  Gelonus  had  temples  to  the  gods  of  their  forefathers. 
The  regions  eastward  of  the  Sauromatae  were  altogether  unknown,  or 
peopled  with  monsters  or  savages,  the  usual  marvels  by  which  a  barbarous 
people  seek  to  disguise  ignorance. 

'  That  the  Androphagi  and  Melanchlaeni  were  the  same  people,  is  apparent  from  what 
Herodotus  says  of  the  latter,  that  they  were  the  only  man-eaters  in  that  country.  (Melp.  107.) 
Mr.  Pinkerton  calls  the  Melanchlaeni,  Sarmatians  ;  on  his  own  authority,  I  suppose.  At  least 
he  cannot  produce  a  single  ancient  testimony  to  their  having  any  connection  with  the  Sarma- 
tians,    (Dissert,  p.  17.) 


(511  HISTORY  OF  THE  COSSAKS. 

Ai'PEX-  XLVIII. — This  account  is  sufficiently  minute  indeed,  but  is  so  per- 

==  fectly  irreconcilable  with  the  present  features  of  the  country,  that  it  is  appa- 
rent, either  that  Herodotus  was  strangely  misinformed  in  many  circum- 
stances of  Scythian  geogi-aphy,  or  that  succeeding  writers  have  given  very 
different  names  to  the  features  of  nature  which  he  describes ;  or,  lastly, 
that  the  face  of  the  country  itself  is  materially  altered.  If  we  take  it 
for  granted,  as  most  geographers  have  done,  that  the  Borysthenes  is  no 
other  than  the  Dnieper,  we  find  no  streams  between  that  and  the  Tanais 
answering  to  the  descriptions  given  of  the  Gerrhus  and  the  Panticape ' ; 
nor  a  space  by  any  means  sufficient  for  the  several  tribes  of  the  Agricul- 
tural, the  Royal,  and  the  Grazing  Scythians.  Thus,  from  the  Borysthenes  to 
the  Panticape  was  three  days'  journey,  occupied  by  the  first-named  of  these 
tribes ;  the  Grazing  Scythians  wandered  over  a  space  of  fourteen  days' 
journey  between  the  Panticape  and  the  Gerrhus ;  and  between  this  last 
and  the  Tanais  a  considerable  tract  must  have  intervened,  which  was  occu- 
pied by  the  most  numerous  and  powerful  of  all  the  Scythian  tribes,  the 
Basilii,  or  Royalists.  But  the  whole  space  between  the  Dnieper  and  the 
Don  does  not  exceed  fifteen  days'  journey  at  twenty  miles  each  day ;  and 
of  the  rivers  which  really  occur  in  that  space,  the  small  streamlet  of  the 
Calankia  Ingul  only  falls  into  the  sea  west  of  the  Tauric  peninsula.  There 
is  no  district  eastward  of  the  Dnieper,  which  offers  the  least  sign  of  a  forest ; 
nor  did  I  ever  hear  of  any  fossil-wood  being  found,  which  might  be  an 
evidence  of  such  having  formerly  existed.  And  the  assertion  of  Baron  de 
Tott,  that  a  forest  had  once  extended  over  the  district  between  Kirburun 
and  Perekop,  I  suspect  to  have  rather  proceeded  from  his  own  reliance  on 
Herodotus,  than  from  any  testimony  of  the  neighbouring  Tartars.  Those 
bleak  downs  can  never  have  been  favourable  to  the  growth  of  trees,  which 

'  Tlie  Panticape  and  Gerrhus  are  described  by  Herodotus  as  the  one  rising  from  a 
northern  lake,  and  running  for  eleven  days'  journey  nearly  parallel  to  the  Borysthenes,  at  about 
three  days'  journey  asunder  ;  then  as  passing  through  Hylaea,  and  falling  into  the  Borysthenes. 
The  Gerrhus  is  said  to  diverge  from  the  Borysthenes  at  the  distance  of  forty  days'  journey  from 
the  sea ;  and  to  have  diverged  so  widely  as  to  leave  a  space  between  the  streams  of  fourteen 
days'  journey,  in  which  space,  and  between  the  two,  the  Panticape,  had  its  source.  The 
Gerrhus  then  falls  into  another  river,  called  the  Hypacaris,  which  falls  into  the  sea,  bounding 
to  the  right  hand  the  country  of  Hylsea  and  the  Dromos  Achillcios.  Now  it  is  certain  that 
no  such  streams  as  these  exist  between  the  Dnieper  and  the  Donetz ;  and  the  elevated  level  of 
the  Nogay  steppe  makes  it  utterly  impossible  that  the  Dnieper  should  ever  have  sent  out  such 
an  arm  as  is  here  described.  It  is  something  remarkable  that  Herodotus  makes  no  mention 
of  the  cataracts  and  rapids  of  the  Dnieper. 


HISTORY  OF  THE  COSSAKS.  615 

are  in  this  country  confined  to  tlie  marsliy  islets  of  the  Dnieper,  and  the    appen- 
warm  and  sheltered  glens  of  the  Crimea.  : 

XLIX. — If  we  could  suppose  that  in  ancient  times  the  Borysthenes, 
besides  its  present  devious  course,  discharged  itself  by  a  channel  in  the  line 
of  the  present  Kingili  Ingul,  a  direction  far  more  exactly  answering  to  the 
southerly  course  assigned  it  by  Herodotus,  than  that  which  it  at  present 
maintains,  the  collocation  of  the  ri\-ers  would  be  easily  understood,  though 
their  intervals  would  still  be  exaggerated ;  and  we  might  reasonably  con- 
clude that  the  most  western  ann  of  the  river  was  taken  by  the  Greeks  for 
its  main  stream  :  that  the  Ingulec  which  falls  into  the  Liman  by  Cherson 
was  their  Panticape  ;  the  marshy  and  woody  isles  of  the  Liman  were  their 
Hylaea ;  and  the  present  bed  of  the  Dnieper  was  with  them  the  Gerrhus, 
or  the  easterly  branch  of  the  Borysthenes.  In  that  case,  we  should  refer  all 
the  Scythian  tribes,  except  the  Royahsts,  to  the  west  of  the  present  Dnieper, 
which  we  must  necessarily  do  to  obtain  room  for  the  pasturage  of  this  most 
numerous  horde,  who  would  else  be  contracted  into  a  far  less  compass  than 
either  the  Callipidae,  Halizones,  or  Ploughmen.  But  the  rapid  stream  of 
the  Dnieper,  and  the  rocky  natm-e  of  its  present  bed,  render  me  unwilling 
to  believe  that  it  can  have  ever  flowed  by  a  direct  course  to  the  sea,  and 
have  then  abandoned  it  for  a  more  devious  one ;  and  it  is  safer,  perhaps,  to 
believe  Herodotus  mistaken,  than  natm-e  changeable.  That  one  change, 
however,  has  taken  place  in  the  course  of  these  mighty  streams,  as  it  was 
the  opinion  of  many  well-informed  persons  with  whom  I  conversed  at 
Odessa,  and  as  it  may  lead  to  some  new  lights  on  this  intricate  geography, 
I  will  not  suppress,  though  I  do  not  vouch  for  the  truth  of  the  supposition. 
North  of  Odessa,  and  in  a  direct  hue  between  the  bay  of  that  city  and  the 
Dniester,  a  string  of  salt  lakes  extends  along  a  narrow  valley,  which  has 
altogether  the  appearance  of  having  been  the  bed  of  a  great  river,  and  by 
which,  as  it  might  seem,  the  Dniester  originally  reached  the  sea.  When  I 
was  in  that  coimtry,  the  possibility  was  frequently  discussed  of  diverting 
the  river  from  its  present  to  its  supposed  former  channel,  and  of  thereby 
making  Odessa  the  natural  emporium  of  all  the  corn  and  timber  of  Podolia 
and  the  Bukovina ;  and  I  did  not  hear  that  any  other  obstacle  existed  than 
the  expense  and  labour  necessary.  Now  if  this  were  really  its  ancient 
estuary,  not  only  will  the  mouths  of  the  Dniester,  Bog,  and  Dnieper  be 
brought  greatly  nearer  to  each  other  ;  but  if  we  suppose,  as  is  not  impro- 
bable, that  the  whole  channel  between  Tendea  and  Odessa  was  regarded 
by  the  Greeks  as  the  estuary  of  the  Borysthenes,  and  that  their  ignorance 


616  ■  HISTORY  OF  THE  COSSAKS. 

APPEN-    made  them  consider  the  Bog  and  Dnieper  as  branches  of  the  same  mighty 


DIX. 


stream,  it  may  be  thought  that  not  the  Bog,  but  the  Dniester  is  the 
Hypanis  ;  and  that  the  Candak,  a  stream  too  considerable  to  have  escaped 
the  notice  of  Herodotus,  is,  in  fact,  the  Tyras  of  that  author.  At  all  events, 
unless  we  place  the  grazing  Scythians  to  the  west  of  the  Dnieper,  it  is  im- 
possible to  find  either  a  wood  for  their  southern,  or  a  river  for  their  eastern 
boundary ;  and  unless  Herodotus  be  wrong  in  all  his  reckoning  of  distances, 
we  shall  vainly  seek  for  room  in  this  scanty  continent  for  the  tribes  which 
he  enumerates ', 

L. — The  Grecian  colonies  on  the  rivers  and  promontories  of  Scythia, 
of  which  Bosphorus,  Cherson,  and  Olbiopolis  were  the  most  considerable, 
do  not  appear  to  have  excited  much  jealousy  in  the  wandering  lords  of  the 
soil,  nor  to  have  materially  impaired  their  independance  :  and  for  several 
hundred  years  after  the  repulse  of  Darius,  the  Scoloti  enjoyed  their  deserts 
unmolested.  Philip  of  Macedon  and  his  son  Alexander  made,  indeed, 
small  inroads  north  of  the  Danube  ;  and  the  latter,  in  the  plenitude  of  his 
power,  led  a  fruitless  expedition  against  the  Sacse  of  Turkestan,  whose 
rivei',  Jaxartes,  both  Arrian  and  Justin  ignorantly  confound  with  the  Ta- 
nais  ^  But  the  Getas  and  Triballi  bore  the  main  brunt  of  the  former  of 
these  attacks,  and  the  western  Scoloti  were  nowise  concerned  in  the  other. 

So  far  as  the  Basilii  are  concerned,  most  geographers  have  materially  encreased  the 
difficulty  by  supposing  that  the  Ta<ppoc  twv  Tv<p\u)y,  wliich  Herodotus  describes  as,  in  part,  their 
eastern  boundary,  was  the  same  with  the  present  vallum  of  Perekop.  But  this  famous  en- 
trenchment runs  east  and  west,  and  therefore  cannot  have  been  the  eastern  boundary  of  any 
region  ;  and  so  far  from  being  a  considerable  distance  from  the  Hypacaris,  if  this  last  be  the 
Calankia  Ingul,  it  is  hardly  two  days'  journey  from  it.  And  as  Rubruquis  is  perfectly  silent 
as  to  any  such  entrenchment  in  his  time,  we  may  be  sure  that  the  works  at  Perekop  are 
modern.  And  though  he  compares  the  isthmus  itself  to  a  trench,  he  does  not  mean  that  it 
was  intersected  by  one,  but  that,  by  the  optical  deception  common  in  such  cases,  the  two  seas 
seemed  higher  than  the  narrow  green  track  between  them.  The  trench,  (or  vallum)  of  the 
blind,  however,  was  drawn  from  "  the  mountains  of  the  Tauri  to  the  Palus  Mseotis,"  and  can, 
therefore,  answer  to  nothing  but  that  which  I  have  already  mentioned  as  passing  from  Iski 
Crim  to  Arabat. 

^  Arrian,  Lib.  iii.  28,  29.  Justin.  Lib.  xii.  5.  This  confusion  of  names  has  given  rise  to 
the  fancy  mentioned  by  Dr.  Clarke  as  prevalent  among  the  Cossaks,  .ind  of  which  many  ancient 
authors  are  not  guiltless, — that  Alexander  passed  the  Don,  and  raised  altars  and  a  city  there 
(Travels,  vol.  i.  p.  273.)  The  ruins  which  the  Cossaks  consider  as  the  remains  of  Alexandria 
are  probably  those  of  Sarcel,  the  city  of  the  Chosares,  which,  though  D'Anville  has  strangely 
misplaced  it  in  his  map,  was,  beyond  a  doubt,  built  on  the  Don,  to  repress  the  incursions  of 
the  Patzinacitse. 


HISTORY  OF  THE  COSSAKS.  617 

The  Scythian  empire  of  Mithridates  was  chiefly  confined  to  the  Tauric  and    appen- 
Grecian  colonies  ;  the  wandering  tribes  were  his  alhes  rather  than  his  sub-         -1— 
jects ;  and  slaves  and  fish,  the  only  valuables  which  those  regions  fur- 
nished, were  more  easily  and  cheaply  procured  by  barter  than  by  military 
expeditions.     About  a  century  before  the  Christian  aera  we  find,  however 
the  whole  of  Western  Scythia,  and  the   Crimea   itself,   subdued  by  the 
more  remote  and  ferocious  tribe  of  Sauromatae,  whose  habitation,  in  the 
time  of  Hei'odotus  ',  was  eastward  of  the  Tanais,  but  who  had,  at  the  period 
in  which  Strabo  ^  WTote,  and  that,  still  earlier,  in  which  Mithridates  reigned, 
extended  themselves  to  the  Danube  and  the  Carpathian  mountains,  extir- 
pating or  amalgamating  with  their  own  name  and  nation,  the  whole  multi- 
tude of  intervening  tribes.     These  Sauromataj,  or  Sarmatians,  were,  if  we 
believe  Herodotus,  of  a  kindred  race  with  the  Scoloti  themselves,  and  the 
descendants  of  certain  young  Scythians,  who  intermarried  with  a  fugitive 
race  of  Amazons  \ 

LI. — When  those  warlike  females  (whose  history,  so  improbable  in 
itself,  and  yet  confirmed  by  so  great  a  force  of  testimony,  must  probably 
remain  for  ever  among  those  historical  features  which  it  would  be  equally 
dangerous  to  reject  or  to  receive)  had  been  defeated  by  the  Greeks  in  the 
great  battle  of  Thermodon,  the  \ictors,  after  collecting  such  of  their  captives 
as  were  worth  the  carriage,  embarked  them  on  board  three  ships  for  Greece. 
The  prisoners,  during  the  voyage,  rose  on  their  guards,  and  put  them  all 
to  death  ;  but  being  ignorant  of  na^•igatiou,  and  not  knowing  whither  to 
direct  their  course,  were  earned,  at  the  mercy  of  the  winds  and  waves,  to 
the  ban-en  and  rocky  entrance  of  the  Cimmerian  Bosphoms,  which  was 
then  possessed  by  the  Royal  or  Free  Scythians,  where,  having  landed,  they 
seized  a  herd  of  horses,  and,  armed  with  the  weapons  of  their  late  masters, 
began  to  pillage  the  neighbourhood.  The  Scythians  regarding  them  as 
men,  at  first  opposed  their  incursion  by  force ;  but  when  they  found,  by 
the  corpses  of  those  whom  they  slew,  with  what  kind  of  enemies  they  had 
to  deal,  it  was  resolved  that  a  party  of  their  young  men,  answering  in  num- 
ber to  these  female  warriors,  should  be  detached  to  observe  them  closely, 
and  seek  all  opportunities  of  conciliation.  The  particulars  of  this  savage 
courtship  are  told  by  Herodotus  with  that  graceful  simplicity  which  is  pe- 
cuhar  to  the  ancients,  and  which  a  modern  compiler  cannot  venture  to 
imitate.  They  hunted  long  in  each  other's  neighbourhood,  "  and  when  the 
Amazons  knew  that  the  young  men  came  for  no  treachery,  they  let  them 

'  Strabo.  1.  vii.  "  Appian.  de  bell.  Mithridatico,  Ixix.  "  Herod.  Melp.  110. 

VOL.  I.  4    K 


C,8  '        HISTORY  OF  THE  COSSAKS. 


DIX. 


APPEN-  speed,  and  every  day  the  one  camp  drew  closer  to  the  other."  A  straggler 
from  each  party  found  means  to  meet  and  express  themselves  by  mutual 
signs,  (for  they  had  no  common  language  but  that  of  the  eyes  ;)  and  this 
good  understanding  soon  led  to  a  general  alliance.  "  Joining  their  camp, 
they  dwelt  together,  each  having  as  wife  her  whom  he  had  first  met  with  ; 
and  the  men  could  not  learn  the  language  of  the  women,  but  the  women 
caught  that  of  the  men  ;  and  when  they  understood  each  other,  the  men 
said  vmto  the  women,  '  We  verily  have  both  parents  and  household-stuff; 
wherefore  now  let  us  not  lead  this  hfe  any  longer,  but  going  to  our  nation, 
let  us  dwell  with  them,  and  you  and  none  other  will  we  have  to  wife.'  And 
the  women  said,  *  We  cannot  dwell  with  your  women,  for  we  have  not  the 
same  customs  with  them  ;  we  shoot  vnth  bows,  and  throw  the  spear,  and 
ride  on  horseback,  and  we  have  not  learnt  womanly  works.  And  your 
women  do  none  of  these  things,  but  work  womanly  works,  abiding  in  the 
tents,  and  going  not  forth  either  to  hunt  or  war ;  we  cannot,  therefore, 
dwell  with  them.  But  if  ye  will  have  us  for  wives,  and  deal  justly  by  us, 
then  go  to  your  parents  and  receive  your  shares  of  their  inheritance,  and 
afterwards  we  will  dwell  apart  from  your  people.' "  The  nation  thus  formed 
was  called  Sauromatffi,  or  Sarmatians  ;  they  spoke  the  Scythian  language, 
a  little  corrupted  by  the  faulty  pronunciation  of  their  mothers ;  and  their 
women  retained,  even  to  the  time  of  Herodotus,  the  custom  of  attending 
their  husbands  in  the  battle  or  the  chase  '. 

LII. — I  certainly  shall  not  undertake  either  to  justify  the  accounts  of 
an  Amazonian  nation,  nor  to  reconcile  this  story  with  the  date  of  the  battle 
of  Thermodon " ;  but  there  is,  in  fact,  no  necessary  connection  between 

'  If  we  believe  Herodotus,  no  Sarmatian  girl  was  allowed  to  marry  till  she  had  killed  an 
enemy ;  and  many  died  unmarried,  not  having  had  an  opportunity  of  fulfilling  this  law. 

'  The  battle  of  Thermodon  is  said  by  Justin  (lib.  xi.  c.  4,)  to  have  been  fought  by  Her- 
cules and  Theseus.  In  this  he  is  at  variance  with  tlie  Greek  writers,  who  make  Theseus  to 
have  visited  the  Amazons  in  Attica,  not  to  have  invaded  them  in  Paphlagonia  ;  (Plutarch  in 
vit.  Thes.)  and  this  date  is  utterly  inconsistent  witli  tlie  accounts  given  by  Herodotus,  since 
Hercules  had  been  long  deified,  and  Theseus  long  deceased,  before  the  Scythians  entered 
Europe. 

There  may,  indeed,  have  been  two  battles  of  Thermodon  ;  for  Herodotus  does  not  seem 
to  have  supposed  that  Hercules  was  present  at  the  one  which  he  mentions,  and  Homer  men- 
tions nothing  of  either.  But  so  recent  a  compiler  as  T.  Pompeius  is  no  very  competent  autho- 
rity on  the  affairs  of  Hercules. 

The  story  which  Herodotus  gives  of  the  origin  of  the  Sarmatse  has  been  strangely  mis- 
quoted by  many  liistorians,  but  by  none  so  much  as  by  Mr.  Pinkerton.  He  gravely  tells  us, 
giving  Herodotus  as  his  authority,  that  "  some  of  the  Sarmatae  learned  the  Scythian  tongue 


HISTORY  OF  THE  COSSAKS.  619 

the  circumstances  here  detailed,  and  that  celebrated  engagement ;  nor,  if  we  appen- 
suppose  that  the  information  of  Herodotus  was  thus  far  incorrect,  is  there  =^= 
any  thing  in  the  remaining  statement  which  is  at  all  improbable.  The  crews 
of  three  Greek  slave-ships,  on  their  way  from  Mingrelia  to  Paphlagonia,  are 
surprised  and  massacred  by  their  miserable  cargoes.  That  these  were  all 
women,  can  excite  no  surprise,  since,  in  those  days,  no  males  received 
quarter  in  battle ;  since  field-slaves  were  unknown  ;  and  since  all  the  offices 
of  a  family  were  performed  by  females.  Nor  is  it  at  all  unlikely  that  these 
poor  creatures,  on  landing  in  Scythia,  should  have  employed  the  weapons 
of  their  late  masters  to  defend  themselves  from  a  new  slavery  ;  or  that,  this 
fear  removed,  they  should  have  been  good  and  courageous  wives  to  their 
wandering  husbands.  At  the  same  time,  supposing  them  to  have  existed 
as  a  separate  community  for  even  a  few  months,  it  is  obvious  how  the  cir- 
cumstance of  women  landing  on  a  foreign  soil  with  arms  in  their  hands, 
might  give  rise  to  the  belief  of  an  Amazonian  nation,  of  which  these  were  a 
colony.  Nor  is  it  less  evident  how  naturally  the  Greeks,  in  after  times, 
would  connect  such  a  story  with  their  own  national  legends  of  Penthesilea, 
Hippolita,  and  Menalippe.  At  all  events,  and  whatever  credit  may  be  given 
to  this  account  of  their  origin,  concerning  the  language  spoken  by  the  Sar- 
matians  in  his  own  time,  Herodotus  was  surely  competent  to  speak  with 
certainty;  and  the  fact  of  which  he  assures  us,  that  they  spoke  a  dialect  of 
Scythian,  is  apparently  a  sufficient  answer  to  the  opinion  which  many 
learned  men  have,  in  later  times,  adopted,  that  they  were  a  distinct  race 
from  the  Scoloti,  and  a  more  recent  colony  from  Media. 

LHI. — Diodorus  Siculus  ',  the  great  authority  on  which  this  hypothesis 
is  built,  and  whose  whole  history  of  the  Scythians  is  so  much  at  variance 
with  that  of  Herodotus,  that  the  one  or  the  other  must  be  abandoned, 
WTote  at  a  period  so  much  more  recent  than  Herodotus,  and  his  knowledge 
of  all  these  countries  is  so  greatly  inferior,  that  it  seems  a  strange  kind  of 
prejudice  which  builds  on  the  testimony  of  a  remote  and  credulous  anti- 
quary, in  preference  to  that  of  one  who  had  himself  visited  the  countries, 
and  conversed  with  the  people  whom  he  describes.  And  further,  the  con- 
duct attributed  by  Diodorus  to  the  kings  of  Scythia,  of  bringing  away,  not 
slaves,  but  colonies  of  subjects  from  Media  and  Assyria,  however  consonant 

from  the  Amazons."     (See  Dissert,  chap.  ii.  p.  20.)     Let  any  one   compare  this  account  with 
the  literal  translation  which  I  have  given  of  the  passage  referred  to,  and  lie  will  be  in  consider- 
able doubt,  I  appreliend,  whether  this  be  utter  ignorance  of  Greek,  or  utter  contempt  of  truth. 
'  Diod.  Sic.  lib.  ii.  chap.  43. 

4  K  2 


(i-20  HISTORY  OF  THE  COSSAKS. 


DIX. 


appi;n-  to  the  policy  of  civilized  nations,  would  be  utterly  preposterous  in  a  people 
of  wandering  habits,  and  in  a  state  so  barbarous  as  that  of  the  Scoloti. 
Whatever  Medes  or  Assyrians  they  might  carry  away  with  them,  would  be, 
undoubtedly,  not  to  plant  in  cities,  after  the  'manner  in  which  the  Czar 
Peter  dealt  with  his  neighbours,  but  as  concubines  or  slaves ;  and  these 
last,  so  far  from  being  left  in  bodies  strong  enough  to  become  independent 
tribes,  would  have  been  not  only  scattered  through  the  tents  of  their  re- 
spective owners,  but,  if  the  Scythians  adhered  to  their  usual  inhuman  cus- 
tom, have  been  deprived  of  eye-sight.  Again,  if  the  Sauromatae  were  a 
Median  colony,  what  made  them  so  soon  forsake  their  ancient  stationary 
habits  of  agriculture  and  commerce,  in  a  situation  so  favourable  for  both  as 
the  Palus  Mfeotis  ?  The  Medes  were  not  a  wandering  but  a  highly-civi- 
lized people ;  the  Sauromatae  were  the  wildest  of  the  Scythians ;  surely 
such  a  dereliction  of  ancient  manners,  such  a  deterioration  of  character,  is 
not  to  be  lightly  credited.  The  Tartar  may  become  settled,  and  learn  to 
work  and  eat  bread  like  a  European ;  but  it  would  take  many  years  to 
wean  a  European  from  his  bread  and  wine,  to  horse-flesh  and  koumiss ; 
nor  have  I  ever  heard  an  instance  of  a  nation  thus  retrograding  from  the 
agricultural  to  the  pastoral  life.  Lastly,  however,  Diodorus  goes  on  to 
assert,  that  in  consequence  of  the  wars  of  these  Sarn'omatae  with  the  Scy- 
thians, and  the  distress  to  which  the  latter  were  reduced,  many  of  the  Scy- 
thian women  took  the  field,  and  thus  gave  rise  to  the  fable  of  the  Amazons. 
Now  this  we  know  to  be  utterly  false  ;  for  the  Amazons,  whether  fabulous 
or  not,  are  mentioned  by  Homer ;  and  the  Scythian  invasion  of  Media,  and 
the  supposed  introduction  of  a  colony  of  Medes  into  the  Cuban,  as  the  in- 
vasion of  Media  only  occurred  in  the  reign  of  Cyaxares,  could  not  have 
taken  place  till  some  centuries  after  Homer's  death  ;  till  which  time,  ac- 
cording to  the  arguments  of  Diodorus  himself,  any  collision  between  the 
Scythians  and  Sauromatee  was  impossible.  Nor  should  it  be  forgotten 
that,  in  the  time  of  Herodotus,  both  the  Scythians  and  Sauromatge  existed  as 
independant  and  friendly  nations,  neither  of  them  inclined  to  invade  or  dis- 
tress the  other.  But  this  is  not  the  only  proof  to  be  found  in  Diodorus 
Siculus,  that,  from  the  days  of  the  father  of  history,  the  knowledge  of  the 
north  and  east  was  retrograding  amongst  the  Greeks,  and  that  the  more 
widely  succeeding  authors  departed  from  his  authority,  the  more  effectually 
they  betrayed  their  own  ignorance. 

LIV.— To  corroborate  this  hypothesis  of  Diodorus,  it  has  been  added 
by  some  learned  moderns,  for  whose  talents  and  knowledge  few  men  have 


HISTORY  OF  THE  COSSAKS.  621 

more  respect  than  myself,  that  the  name  Sauro-Matae,  or  "  Sar-Madai,"    .\ppkx- 


signifies  (in  what  language  we  are  not  told)  "  the  descendants  of  the  , 
Medes ;"  and  that  the  pass  of  Derbent  was  called  in  after  times  "  the 
Sarmatic  gates,"  because  the  descendants  of  the  Medes  had  passed  through 
them  to  the  Palus  Maeotis.  But  till  we  know  that  "  Sar"  was  ever  used  to 
signify  a  "  descendant"  in  either  the  Median  or  Scythian  language,  this 
etymology  will  have  but  little  weight  with  the  common  race  of  enquirers. 
There  is  besides  a  prior  claimant  in  Madyes  king  of  Scythia,  from  whom 
the  Sauromatae  may  be  esteemed  full  as  likely  to  have  taken  their  title  as 
from  the  Medes.  And  though  the  pass  of  Caucasus  was  certainly  called 
the  Sarmatic  gate  by  the  Greeks,  as  it  was  also  called  by  the  Arabians  the 
rampart  of  Gog  and  Magog,  it  was  not  so  styled  in  memory  of  the  peace- 
able egress  of  the  Sarmatians  from  Media,  but  of  their  frequent  and 
terrible  inroads  by  that  passage  to  plunder  and  destroy.  On  the  whole, 
the  supposed  descent  of  the  Sauromatae  fi-om  the  Medes,  will  be  found, 
perhaps,  no  less  apocryphal  than  that  of  the  Turks  fi"om  the  Teucii,  nor 
can  any  connexion  be  proved  between  them,  except  that  both  originally 
sprang  from  the  same  son  of  Noah.  Media  has  received  many  colonies, 
but  is  too  spacious  and  fertile  a  region  to  be  itself  deserted  for  Scythia  '. 

LV. — With  the  exception  of  the  districts  occupied  by  the  Grecian 
colonists,  the  Sauromatae,  or  Sarmatians,  for  at  least  250  years  continued 

'  Herodotus  mentions,  indeed,  a  northern  tribe  who  professed  themselves  to  be  a  colony 
of  Medes  ;  but  they  were  found  in  a  country  far  removed  from  Sarmatia  ;  and  he  treats  their 
pretensions  as  very  slightly  founded.  They  were  the  Sigunna,  a  tribe  of  warlike  barbarians, 
whose  dress  or  armour  resembled  that  of  the  Medes,  and  who  had  war-chariots,  drawn  by 
small  and  shaggy,  but  swift  horses.  They  occupied  the  regions  beyond  the  upper  Danube, 
and  bordering  on  the  Veneti.  They  may,  perhaps,  be  the  same  people  who  were  afterwards 
called  Vindelici,  whose  supposed  eastern  origin  and  Amazonian  battle-axes  were  famous  in  tlie 
time  of  Horace. 

Vindelici,  qui'ous 

Mos  unde  deductus  per  omne 

Tempus  Amazonia  securi 

Dextras  obarmet,  qua?rere  disluli  : 

Nee  scire  fas  est  omnia. 

On  this  passage  the  scholiast  writes  "  that  tlie  Vindelici  were  a  tribe  who  liad  been 
expelled  from  Thrace  by  die  Amazons." 

If,  as  the  similarity  of  the  name  may  seem  to  imply,  they  were  a  tribe  of  Veneti,  the  report 
of  their  Median  descent  is  easily  explained  by  the  known  emigration  of  this  last  people  from 
Paphlagonia.  (Strabo.  lib.  xi.)  They  were  certainly  neither  Germans  nor  Celts  ;  and  they 
are  distinguished  both  from  tlie  Rhaeti  and  the  Suevi. 


DIX. 


fioo  HISTORY  OF  THE  COSSAKS. 


DIX. 


APi'iA-  in  possession  of  the  sovereignty  of  Scythia.  In  the  time  of  Strabo  their 
southern  extremities  reached  the  Danube  in  Europe,  and  the  Cuban  in 
Asia.  Their  eastern  tribes  appear  to  have  extended  to  the  Caspian,  and 
westward  they  ravaged  the  country  of  the  Get^e  and  Bastarrse  so  far  as  the 
Tibiscus  of  Teyss.  To  the  north  their  empire  was  more  contracted,  since 
the  Rhoxolani  to  the  north-west,  and  the  more  eastern  Alani  occupied  no 
small  part  of  the  plain  between  the  Borysthenes  and  Tanais '.  The 
Sarmatians  themselves  were  divided  into  many  tribes,  with  whom  the 
conquered  Scythians  were  confounded.  Like  the  Scoloti,  their  ruling  and 
paramount  clan  assumed  the  denomination  of  RoyaUsts.  The  others  were 
the  Jazyges,  the  Urgi,  the  Aorsi,  the  Seiraci,  and,  lastly,  the  Limigantes,  a 
mutinous  race  of  bond-men,  whom  their  masters  had  entrusted  with  ai-ms 
during  their  war  with  the  Scythians,  and  who  had  used  these  weapons  to 
establish  their  own  liberty.  All  these  clans,  as  well  as  their  neighbours, 
the  Alani,  had  the  same  language,  dress,  and  manners.  Their  arms  were 
lances,  bows  and  poisoned  arrows ;  and  their  bodies  were  defended  by 
cuirasses  composed  of  shavings  of  horn,  disposed  like  scales  on  a  coarse 
linen  tunic.  Their  tactics  were,  however,  more  adapted  for  plunder  and 
assassination  than  for  open  war.  Even  in  the  decline  of  the  empire  the 
Roman  infantry  easily  kept  them  at  bay ;  and  the  slight  resistance  which 
their  Gothic  invaders  met  with  in  the  third  century  after  Christ,  is  very 
singularly  contrasted  with  the  spirit  and  prudence  which  their  ancestors 
displayed  against  Darius  Hystaspes.  Yet  though  the  Goths  had  at  least  a 
military  possession  of  the  rivers  and  of  the  more  cultivable  parts  of  the 
country,  the  Sarmatians  still  seem  to  have  preserved  to  themselves  the 
pasturage  of  their  grassy  deserts,  and  the  savage  liberty  of  wandering  and 
plunder.  They  continued  for  many  years  after  to  ravage  the  fields  of 
Dacia,  and  Ammianus  mentions  a  treaty  made  with  their  king  so  late  as 
the  year  360. 

LVI. — Of  the  Goths  themselves,  and  their  progress  from  the  Baltic, 
or  of  the  short  but  memorable  period  of  their  empire  in  Scythia,  it  is 

'  The  Rhoxolani,  or  Rhoxani,  are  distinguished  by  Strabo  from  all  the  Scythic  or  Sarma- 
tian  tribes,  and  classed  with  the  Peuci  and  Bastarrae.  They  had  helmets  and  breast-plates  of 
raw  hides,  and  shields  (a  sure  proof  that  they  were  no  Sarmatians)  of  the  same  material.  Their 
king,  Tasius,  brought  30,000  men  to  the  assistance  of  the  Chersonites  against  Mithridates, 
who  were,  however,  totally  defeated,  witli  innnense  loss,  by  the  disciplined  troops  of  Pontus, 
(Strabo  vii.)  Tiiat  the  Rhoxani  were  of  Slavonic  race  is  highly  probable.  That  they  were 
the  founders  of  the  Russian  name  and  nation  I  could  readily  believe,  if  it  were  not  contradicted 
(as  will  be  seen  hereafter)  by  the  earliest  histories  of  the  country. 


HISTORY  OF  THE  COSSAKS.  623 

unnecessary  for  me  now  to  speak.     The  name  of  Gothland  was  for  some    appen- 


time  affixed  to  the  Crimea ;  and  in  some  of  the  mountainous  cantons  of 
that  peninsula  their  colonies  were  long  blended  with  the  ancient  Tauri, 
and  the  German  or  Swedish  language  was  not  unknown  there  even  so  late 
as  the  embassy  of  Rubruquis  in  the  14th  century.  But  the  main  body  of 
their  nation  was,  as  is  well  known,  expelled  from  Scythia  in  the  year  376, 
by  the  great  inundation  of  the  Huns  and  the  Alani,  who  were  closely 
followed  in  tremendous  and  continual  succession  by  the  Avars,  Chozares, 
Patzinacitae,  Cumani,  Magiars,  and  Vlachi,  with  many  other  nations  of 
Mongolian,  Tartar,  and  Finnic  descent,  who  were  in  these  ages  let  loose 
from  behind  the  mighty  rivers  and  pathless  deserts,  where  Providence  had 
hitherto  kept  them  bound  from  disturbing  the  western  world.  The  imme- 
diate causes,  however,  of  their  irruption  into  Europe  may  be  found  in  the 
subjugation  of  the  Sauromatae,  by  whose  name  they  had  hitherto  been 
held  in  respect,  and  in  the  facility  with  which  the  Alani  (a  kindred  race  with 
the  Sarmatians,  who  occupied  the  eastern  frontier  of  Europe  along  the 
Volga)  united  with  any  invader  who  led  them  on  against  their  enemies, 
the  wealthy  and  tyrannical  Goths.  The  Huns  were  doubtless  a  Mongohan 
family,  since  the  description  of  their  hideous  features,  as  given  by  Ammianus 
IMarcellinus,  can  only  belong  to  the  ancestors  of  the  present  Calmuks. 
The  Tartars  or  Turks,  with  whom  the  learned  Des  Guignes,  misled  by  his 
Chinese  authorities,  most  strangely  confounds  them,  so  far  as  to  reduce  all 
the  various  tribes  of  Northern  Asia  to  one  common  denomination,  are  a 
race  distinct  both  in  language  and  history ;  and  though  by  conquest  and 
intermarriages  they  have  received  a  strong  tincture  of  Mongolian  blood, 
are  still  a  fair  and  comely  people  in  comparison  with  the  followers  of 
Attila.  The  snowy  range  of  Imaus  may  seem,  indeed,  to  have  bounded, 
till  the  time  of  that  monarch,  the  western  progress  of  his  countrymen, 
since  we  have  no  reason  afforded  us  by  ancient  history  for  believing  that 
either  the  Sacae,  Massagetge,  Turks,  or  Chorasmians  at  all  differed  in 
countenance  from  the  rest  of  mankind,  or  from  their  immediate  neighbours 
the  Persians'.     The  Avars,  Chazares  and  Vlachi  were  known    to  have 

•  The  following  painting  of  the  Turkish  females  in  the  days  of  Cyrus,  is  a  tolerably  accu- 
rate versification  of  a  literal  translation  from  the  Shah-Nameh  of  Ferdusi,  for  which  I  am  in- 
debted to  a  MS.  of  General  Malcolm's  *.     It  may  be  regarded  as  proof,  first,  that  the  modern 

*   Now,  1830,  the  Honourable  Sir  John  Malcolm,  Governor  of  Bombay. — Ed. 


DIX. 


DIX 


624  HISTORY  OF  THE  COSSAKS. 

APPEN-  been  of  Turkish  stock,  and  are  so  called  both  in  the  Byzantine  histories, 
and  in  the  earliest  Slavonic  chronicles.  The  Patzinacitse  and  Cumani  spoke 
the  same  language ;  and  the  similarity  of  name  would  lead  us  to  derive 
the  latter  from  the  river  Cuma,  which  flows  through  the  desert  of  Astra- 
chan,  or  from  the  city  of  Cumania,  which  PHny  fixes  in  the  neighbourhood 
of  the  Caspian  gates.  Both  these  nations,  then,  may  seem  to  have  been 
Sarmatian  tribes,  of  the  same  original  stock  as  the  Scythians  and  Alani ; 
and  the  enormous  length  of  their  hair,  which  is  noticed  by  the  Hungarian 
writers  of  a  later  period,  was,  perhaps,  a  proof  of  their  pedigree.  The 
Magyars  came  from  those  ample  regions,  which  are  now  occupied  by  the 
Baschkirs  and  Yakonti.  The  city  of  JMadshar  on  the  coast  of  the  Caspian, 
the  ruins  of  which  have  excited  the  attention  of  many  travellers,  and  have 
been  regarded  with  a  very  misplaced  veneration  by  several  Hungarian 
literati,  is  proved  by  later  enquirers  to  have  been  a  Tartar  erection  of  the 
14th  century.  They  are  called  Turks  by  Constantine  Porphyrogenitus ; 
but  the  similarity  of  language  evinces  a  descent  from  the  Finns,  and  a  close 
relationship  to  the  far  less  fortunate  tribes  who  drive  their  rein -deer 
through  the  frozen  snows  of  Lapland  and  Samoiedia  '. 

LVH. — Of  these  nations  the  subsequent  fortunes  may  be  given  in  a 
few  words.  The  Huns,  after  the  declension  of  their  empii'e,  were  still 
under  the  name  of  Chunni,  a  powerful  people  in  the  provinces  of  Poland, 
and  often  ravaged  the  north  of  Hungary  to  a  very  late  period.  Their 
race  perhaps  may  yet  survive  in  the  Tartars  of  Humann,  (a  singular  people, 
who,  in  the  midst  of  Slavonians,  retain  a  dialect  of  Mongolian,  and  the  use 
of  horse-flesh,)  or,  more  probably,  has  gradually  lost  itself  among  the  war- 
like and  equestrian  Lithuanians.  FirofF  was  called  Chunigrad  by  the  Sla- 
vonians so  late  as  the  year  900.  The  Avars,  at  one  time  the  most  power- 
ful of  eastern  nations,  can  now  be  no  longer  traced  on  a  map  of  the  world  ; 
and  their  excessive  pride  and  exemplary  destruction  was  recorded  by  a  pro- 
Tartars  of  Turkistan  are  not  an  uncomely  race,  since  Ferdusi  would  not  have  selected  a  tent 
of  Calniuks  as  the  habitation  of  beauty  ;  and  secondly,  that  there  was  no  tradition  among  the 
Persians  that  the  ancient  Turks  at  all  resembled  the  Huns,  or  differed  from  their  present  ap- 
pearance. A  part  only  of  the  following  passage  is  relevant  to  this  topic  ;  but  the  whole  affords 
so  pleasing  an  Eastern  landscape,  that  its  insertion  will,  I  trust,  be  pardoned.  It  is  the  speech 
of  Georgin  to  Begun,  when  he  points  out  to  his  companion  the  beautiful  gardens  of  Afrasiah  *. 
'   Gyamati,  Affines  Linguae  Hungaricse. 


*  See  p.  437. 


HISTORY  OF  THE  COSSAKS.  625 

verb,  in  the  time  of  the  historian  Nestor  '.     Of  the  Chozares,  Patzinacitae,    appen- 
dix 
and  Curaani,  I  shall  have  occasion  to  speak  hereafter.     The  name  of  one  - 

of  the  Danubian  provinces  attests  the  final  settlement  of  the  Vlachi  or  Wal- 
lachi ;  and  the  Magyars,  more  fortunate  than  any  of  the  rest,  are  at  pre- 
sent, with  unaltered  name,  and  still  preserving  their  Tchudic  language,  the 
peaceable  and  glorious  possessors  of  the  rich  plains  and  vine-clad  hills  of 
Hungary  ^.  What  became  of  the  Sarmatic  and  Scythian  population  during 
these  repeated  revolutions,  it  may  not  be  uninteresting  to  discover.  Their 
main  stock  would  be  so  easily  blended  with  the  Alani,  Patzinacitae,  and 
Cumani,  tribes  of  kindred  manners  and  language  to  their  own,  that  the 
conquered  and  conquering  nations  would  be  soon  an  undistinguished  mass. 
But  though  many  tribes  were,  doubtless,  extirpated  or  absorbed  by  their 
conquerors,  the  name  and  posterity  of  the  Jazyges  may  seem  to  have  still 
survived  the  shock  in  the  obscure,  though  warlike  tribe  of  Jagii ',  who 
subsisted  as  an  independant  nation  in  Lithuania  so  late  as  the  year  1277. 

LVIII. — We  have  hitherto  contemplated  the  main  stream  of  conquest 
as  it  continued,  during  many  centuries,  to  set  steadily  in  from  the  east. 
But  these  were  not  the  only,  nor  the  most  important  colonies  which  Scythia 
was  destined  to  receive ;  and  the  Russians  and  Slavonians  from  the  north 
and  west,  began,  so  early  as  the  ninth  century,  to  show  themselves  amid  the 
cataracts  and  marshy  islands  of  the  Dnieper.  Of  these,  the  first  were,  if 
we  believe  the  earliest  Russian  chronicles,  a  Scandina%dan  tribe,  the  kin- 
dred of  the  Swedes,  the  Danish,  and  the  English.  They  landed  in  the 
territory  of  Novogorod  about  the  year  860  ;  and  shortly  after  had  sufiicient 
power,  or  address,  to  unite  the  neighbouring  tribes  of  Finns  and  Slavonians  ■ 
with  themselves,  under  the  common  authority  of  a  Scandinavian  chief, 
named  Ruric,  or  Roderic  *.     They  were  the  same  race  with  those  Waran- 

'  "  And  tliese  were  the  Obri  (Avars)  in  those  days  ;  and  they  made  war  against  the 
Czar  (emperor,)  Heraclius,  and  well  nigh  mastered  him.  These  Obri  made  war  against  the 
Slavi,  and  they  subdued  the  Duhebi,  who  are  of  the  Slavi,  and  they  abused  the  women  of  the 
Duliebi.  And  when  an  Obre  went  a  journey,  he  harnessed  to  his  waggon  neither  horses  nor 
oxen,  but  he  harnessed  three,  or  four,  or  five  women,  and  they  drew  the  Obre  ;  and  to  this 
service  the  Duliebi  were  constrained.  For  the  Obri  were  mighty,  and  filled  with  pride,  and 
God  destroyed  them,  and  they  all  perished,  and  there  is  no  Obre  left.  And  there  is  a  proverb 
among  the  Russians,  which  saith, — '  They  have  perished  like  the  Obri,  and  have  left  no  chil- 
dren to  preserve  their  remembrance.'" — (Nestor  ap  Potocki,  pp.  194 — 197.) 

'  Magyar-Orsag  is  the  name  which  the  Hungarians  still  give  to  their  country.  "  Orsag," 
is  "  kingdom." 

'  Des  Guignes,  L.  xviii.  342.     Pastori  Horus  Polemicus,  L.  ii.  §  14, 

*  "  In  the  year  (of  the  world,  according  to  the  Russian  computation,)  6368,  and  in  the 
VOL.  I.  4  L 


6-26  HISTORY  OF  THE  COSSAKS. 


DIX. 


APPEN-  gians  who  were  long  the  most  faithful  mercenaries  of  the  imperial  Byzan- 
tine guard,  whose  name,  Waringa,  or  "  Wamor,"  is  rather  professional 
than  national,  and  whose  language  is  called  by  Codinus  a  dialect  of  "  En- 
glish '."  Askold  and  Dir,  two  of  Roderic's  companions,  three  years  after 
his  accesion  to  the  Russian  sovereignty,  advancing  to  Kief,  and  uniting 
themselves  with  the  neighbouring  Slavonians,  defeated  the  Chozares,  who 
were  till  then  lords  paramount  of  the  soil,  and  established  a  new  empire  in 
Scythia,  which,  within  a  few  years,  became  as  formidable  to  the  imbecile 
government  of  Constantinople  as  any  of  the  former  occupiers  of  this  coun- 
try. Thus  it  was  that,  about  three  hundred  years  after  the  Saxon  conquest 
of  Britain,  and  sixty  previous  to  the  establishment  of  the  Normans  in 
France,  another  swarm  of  the  same  northern  hive  succeeded  in  giving  a 
name  and  a  race  of  sovereigns  to  the  still  wider  regions  of  European  Scy- 
thia. But  the  Warangians  were  too  small  a  part  of  the  population  to  effect, 
like  the  Saxons  in  Briton,  a  total  change  in  the  language  of  the  tribes  with 
whom  they  coalesced ;  and  there  was  not  that  radical  difference  between 
the  ancient  dialects  of  Scandinavia  and  Slavonians,  which  prevented  them 
from  easily  blending  with  each  other  into  that  mixture  which  now  bears  the 
name  of  Russian,  and  of  which  Slavonian  is  by  ftir  the  most  conspicuous 
ingredient.     For  a  few  generations  the  Warangian  tongue  endured,  and 

year  6369,  and  in  the  year  G370,  the  Warags  came  from  beyond  the  sea,  but  they  (the  Slavo- 
nians,) paid  them  no  tribute.  And  they  began  to  govern  themselves,  and  there  was  no  justice, 
and  nation  strove  with  nation,  and  they  had  war.  And  they  said  among  themselves,  let  us 
make  us  a  prince,  that  he  may  govern  us,  and  counsel  us  aright.  And  the  Russians  went 
beyond  the  sea  to  the  Warags  ;  for  these  before-named  Warags  called  themselves  Russians,  in 
like  manner  as  others  called  themselves  Swie,  others  Urmani,  others  Ingland,  others  Goths. 
Thus,  therefore,  spake  the  Russians  and  Tchouds,  and  Slavi,  and  Krywiczi,  and  all,  '  Our  land 
is  great  and  fruitful,  but  we  lack  counsel.  Come  therefore  hither,  and  tiiou  shalt  be  our  prince 
and  govern  us.'  And  they  brought  over  three  brethren  with  their  kindred,  and  these  had  all 
Russia.  And  they  came  among  the  Slavi  first  and  built  the  city  Ladoga,  and  Riurik  dwelt  in 
old  Ladoga,  and  the  second  Syneus  dwelt  with  us  at  Biel-Osero,  and  the  tliird  Truvor  at  Isborsk  ; 
and  since  these  Warags,  Novogorod  is  called  Russian  land.  These  men  of  Novogorod  are  of 
Warag  race,  but  before  they  were  Slavonians  (who  dwelt  there,)  and  tliey  were  so  called  until 
the  time  of  Riurik.  After  two  years  died  Syneus  with  his  brother  Truvor,  and  Riurik  only 
had  all  the  rule,  and  he  came  to  the  Ilmen,  and  he  built  a  city  on  the  Volchof  and  settled  there 
to  be  a  prince,  and  he  called  it  Novogorod  ;  and  he  gave  lands  to  his  men  and  built  cities. 
One  had  Pultusk,  one  Rostof,  one  Biel-Osero.  And  in  these  cities  the  new  comers  were  called 
Warags,  but  of  Novogorod,  the  former  citizens  were  Slavi,  and  of  Poltosk,  Krywiczi,  and  of 
Biel-Osero,  Vessi."     (Nestor  apud  Potocki,  p.  208,  et  seq.) 

'  Reiske.  Comment,  in  vor.  Varangi.  ap.  Stritter  compared.     Hist.  Byz.  torn.  iv.  p.  472. 
Codinus  de  Officiis,  cap.  viii.  §  12. 


HISTORY  OF  THE  COSSAKS.  6->7 

Constantine  Porphyrogenitus  gives  us  the  names  of  five  cataracts  on  the    appen- 
Dnieper  in  the  Russian  language  ',  which  bear  considerable  marks  of  their  =^= 
northern  origin.     The  dialect  of  the  majority  soon,  however,  prevailed; 
and  though  the  Finns  still  call  the  Russians  by  the  name  of  Guda,  or  Goths, 
the  modern  Russian  has  lost  all  recollection  of  his  kindred  with  the  Swedes 
and  Norwegians. 

LIX. — I  have  adopted  the  plain  unvarnished  story  of  Nestor  as  to  the 
original  country  of  the  Russians,  and  their  establishment  at  Novogorod  and 
Kief.  His  testimony  is  the  earliest  which  we  possess,  and  his  character  as 
a  historian  unimpeached.  Nor  is  there  any  thing  more  probable  than 
that  the  same  valiant  pirates  who  subdued  France,  England,  and  Ireland, 
should,  about  the  same  time,  be  making  similar  exertions  on  the  side  of 
Russia.  Nor  do  I  know  any  thing  more  explicit  than  the  simple  and 
almost  Scriptural  language  of  this  father  of  Muscovite  history.  Yet,  in 
the  face  of  this  direct  evidence,  there  have  been  many  modern  writers  who 
assign  to  the  Russians  a  very  different  descent.  The  learned  and  diligent 
L'Evesque  is,  in  this  point,  so  far  abandoned  by  his  usual  judgement,  as  to 
conclude  that  they  were  a  race  of  Huns ;  and  there  are  others  who  are 
equally  positive  in  deriving  them  from  a  Slavonic  origin.  The  first  of  these 
opinions,  and  which  only  deserves  refutation  as  being  the  opinion  of  an 
author  like  L'Evesque,  is  founded  on  the  following  circumstances  :  Kief, 
as  we  have  already  seen,  was  anciently  called  Khunigard,  the  "  city  of  the 
Huns  ;"  and  to  prove  that  its  founders  were  of  that  nation,  Kii,  the  tradi- 
tionary name  of  its  builder,  is  asserted  to  have  no  Slavonic  meaning.  2dly, 
Constantine  Porphyrogenitus,  as  well  as  Cadrenus  and  Zenaras,  calls  the 
inhabitants  of  Kief,  Russians  ;  and,  3dly,  when  Oleg,  the  regent  of  Novo- 
gorod during  the  minority  of  the  sons  of  Ruric,  was  endeavouring  to  entrap 
the  princes  of  Kief  to  a  conference,  he  reminded  them  that  they  were 
of  the  same  race  with  himself.  4thly,  There  is  a  passage  in  the  chronicles 
of  the  monastery  of  St.  Bertin  for  the  year  839,  in  which  the  sovereign  of 

'  The  Russian  names  given  by  Constantine  are  very  different  from  the  Slavonic  appellations 
which  he  also  furnishes  ;  but  they  are  so  much  disguised  by  their  Grecian  dress  as  to  make  it 
very  difficult  to  trace  their  resemblance  to  any  known  language.  They  are  "  Oulborsi,"  pro- 
bably "  Wolver's  Eoa,"  or  Wolve's  island,  since  the  corresponding  Slavonic  word,  Ostrobuni- 
pratch,  implies  there  was  an  island  at  the  place.  2.  "  Aiphar,"  the  corresponding  Slavonic, 
which  is  "  Neapit,"  or  Pelican's  Nest,  may  lead  us  to  render  "  Eya-far,"  or  Egg-ferry.  3. 
"  Barviphorum"  may  be  "  Bar"  or  Bear-ferry.  4.  "  Leanti."  5.  "Stroubun."  Of  these  I 
can  make  no  meaning  which  pleases  me.  The  nautical  terms  of  the  Baltic  may  perhaps  afford 
a  clue  to  both. 

4  L   2 


628  HISTORY  OF  THE  COSSAKS. 

APPEN-  the  Russians  is  called  "  Chacanus,"  which  L'Evesque  supposes  to  be  the 
°'^-  same  with  Chagan,  or  Khan,  a  title  exclusively  oriental.  But,  first,  it  is  no 
uncommon  circumstance  that  a  town  should  receive  a  name  from  its  occu- 
pants, as  well  as  from  its  founders  ;  and  as  the  Huns  must  have  been  in  pos- 
session of  Kief  for  many  years  during  the  continuance  of  the  empire  founded 
by  Attila,  it  is  no  wonder  that  the  neighbouring  Slavonians  should  call  it 
after  its  occupants,  whether  it  were  built  by  the  Huns  or  no.  And  though 
it  be  true,  as  L'Evesque  observes,  that  the  hill  where  the  ancient  Russian 
princes  were  buried  is  called  "  Ongorskaia  Gory,"  it  is  not  so  called  because 
the  Huns  were  buried  there,  but  because  the  Hungarians,  in  the  year  888, 
were  encamped  on  it  in  their  passage  through  the  country.  In  whatever 
nation  we  are  to  seek  for  Kii's  parentage,  it  is  plain  that  the  Russians 
are  not  concerned  in  the  question,  since  the  city  which  he  founded  had 
flourished  some  centuries  before  the  arrival  of  Askhold  and  Dir,  who  are 
described  by  Nestor  as  the  first  Russians  who  came  thither.  Secondly, 
when  Constantine  Porphyrogenitus  speaks  of  Kief  as  inhabited  by  Rus- 
sians, he  evidently  refers  to  the  then  ruling  nation,  in  the  latter  part,  that 
is,  of  the  tenth  century  after  Christ,  who  were  undoubtedly  Russians,  and 
the  descendants  of  those  Warangians  who  came  from  the  north  with  Ask- 
hold and  Dir ;  but  to  say  that  these  were  Huns  is  nothing  less  than  beg- 
ging the  question.  And,  thirdly,  they  were,  these  very  Warangian  chief- 
tains, not  the  founders  or  original  population,  but  the  conquerors  of  Kief, 
whom  the  Regent  Oleg  called  his  kindred.  So  that,  not  only  have  we  no 
good  reason  for  supposing  Kief  to  have  been  built  by  the  Huns,  but  even 
granting  that  it  were  their  work,  and  that  the  original  population  was  Hun- 
nish,  the  Russians  were  plainly  a  completely  different  people.  The  pas- 
sage, lastly,  in  the  Bertinian  annals  will  not  suffice  to  prove  that  the  Russian 
sovereigns  were  anciently  styled  Khan ;  but,  on  the  other  hand,  it  very 
strongly  confirms  the  account  of  Nestor,  which  fixes  their  former  habitation 
in  Sweden.  Certain  strangers,  it  informs  us,  who  said  they  belonged  to  a 
nation  named  "  Ros,"  and  had  been  sent  "  by  their  king,  Chacan,"  on  a 
frieiidly  message  to  the  Emperor  Theodosius  at  Constantinople,  were  re- 
commended by  this  last  to  the  German  monarch,  Lewis  the  Debonnaire, 
to  be  forwarded  by  him,  through  Germany,  to  their  own  country.  They 
were  ascertained  by  Lewis  to  belong  to  a  Swedish  tribe,  and  were,  there- 
fore, dismissed  by  him  with  much  reluctance,  under  the  impression  that 
they  were  enemies  both  to  the  eastern  and  western  empii'es.  This  hap- 
pened in  839.     And  how  rightly  Lewis  divined  their  motives  for  this  em- 


HISTORY  OF  THE  COSSAKS.  •  020 

bassy  to  Constantinople  is  plain,  when  we  find  that,  not  many  years  after,  appen- 
the  Swedish  Warangians  invaded  Scythia  in  their  way  to  the  Euxine.  And  — 
the  fact  of  the  Russians  being  originally  from  Sweden  is  thus,  as  it  should 
seem,  so  strongly  coniirmed,  that  L'Evesque  himself  is  obliged  to  have  re- 
course to  the  strange  supposition  that  some  of  the  Huns  might,  by  unknown 
means,  (for  they  had  no  vessels,)  and  at  some  unknown  period,  have  esta- 
blished themselves  beyond  the  Gulph  of  Finland  ;  a  notion  to  examine  which 
would  be  little  less  absurd  than  to  maintain  it,  if  it  did  not  lean  on  the 
supposed  similarity  of  Chacan  to  Chagan.  But  Chacan  (supposing  it  to  be 
a  title)  may  be  a  corruption  of  the  Swedish  "  Kong,"  a  king,  as  well  as  the 
Tartarian  "  Khan."  It  has,  however,  as  Schlfezer  observes,  in  the  present 
passage,  every  appearance  of  being  a  proper  name,  and  is  probably  no  other 
than  the  well-known  Scandinavian  appellation,  Hacan,  or  Haco. 

LX. — The  opinion  that  the  Russians  were  of  Slavonic  race  has  been 
espoused  under  various  modifications  by  some  of  the  academicians  of  St. 
Petersburgh,  and  by  the  editor  of  L'Evesque,  M.  Malte  Brun.  The 
first,  without  contravening  the  positive  assertion  of  Nestor,  that  the  Russian 
Warangians  came  fi'om  Sweden,  suppose  that,  as  so  large  a  proportion  of 
the  northern  population  of  Germany  and  Prussia  was  Slavonic,  it  is  not 
improbable  that  a  sprinkling  of  kindred  tribes  may  have  existed  also  in 
Sweden ;  and  that  of  these  the  followers  of  Riuric  might  have  been  com- 
posed, whose  language  they  supposed  would  have  agreed  better  with  the 
Slavonic  tribes  of  Novogorod  than  the  Gothic  could  have  done.  And 
they  plead  that  the  Gothic  could  not  have  been  so  completely  lost  in 
the  Slavonic,  as  it  is  in  the  present  Russian  language.  But  there  is,  as 
will  be  shown  hereafter,  so  great  a  similarity  in  radicals  between  the  Gothic 
of  Scandinavia  and  the  Slavonic  of  the  north,  that  these  circumstances 
need  cause  no  difficulty  ;  and  for  the  rest,  a  hypothesis  which  is  built 
entirely  on  possibilities  need  not  take  up  any  very  long  consideration,  more 
especially  as  the  expressions  of  Nestor  imply  that  the  Russian  Warangians 
were  of  the  same  stock  with  those  of  Sweden,  Germany,  and  England. 

LXI. — M.  Malte  Biim  attempts  to  show  that  the  Russian  Warangians 
received  their  distinctive  name,  not  in  Scandinavia,  but  after  their  residence 
in  the  north  of  Russia  among  a  people  of  the  same  appellation,  whom  he 
identifies  with  the  ancient  Rhoxolani  or  Rhoxani,  a  name  certainly  applied 
by  the  anonymous  geographer  of  Ravenna  in  the  9th  century  to  a  people 
bordering  on  the  Baltic.  But  the  similarity  of  the  name  on  which  M. 
Malte  Brun  lays  considerable  stress,  is  not  sufficiently  striking  to  serve  as 


(i-JO 


HISTORY  OF  THE  COSSAKS. 


APPEN-  a  foundation  for  a  hypothesis  contradicted  by  a  historian  so  nearly  con- 
°':i=  temporary  as  Nestor,  who,  certainly,  if  there  be  any  force  in  language, 
describes  the  Russians  as  foreigners.  And,  as  the  above  named  geographer 
wrote  some  fifty  years  at  least  after  the  establishment  of  the  Warangians 
on  the  southern  shore  of  the  gulph  of  Finland,  we  have  too  many  examples 
of  the  custom,  common  with  the  Greeks,  of  misusing  the  names  of  nations, 
to  doubt  that  he  has  appHed  in  this  place  the  character  of  the  ancient 
Rhoxani,  sojourners  in  the  south  of  Russia,  to  a  race  very  different  in 
situation,  but  of  which  the  patronymic  was  something  similar.  We  have 
seen  how  vaguely  and  improperly  the  term  of  Scythian  was  applied  by  the 
Byzantine  writers  ;  and  the  fancied  resemblance  between  Rhoxani  and 
Rossi  was  in  itself  sufficient  to  lead  an  author  of  this  stamp  to  prefer  the 
classical  to  the  barbarous  name,  without  examining  or  caring  whether  the 
first  were  properly  applied  or  no.  Secondly,  liowever,  M.  Malte  Brun 
(after  expressing  much  contempt  for  those  who  give  credit  to  the  "  tradi- 
tions collected  by  Moses")  assures  us  that  it  is  in  vain  to  seek  after  a 
foreign  origin  for  the  Russian  people,  since  all  great  nations  have  been 
"  Antoethones,"  or,  at  least,  without  any  known  origin.  If  he  intends  to 
signify  that  all  great  nations  have  from  eternity,  or  from  unknown  antiquity, 
occupied  the  countries  which  they  now  inhabit,  it  is  evident  what  new 
systems  may  be  introduced  by  the  judicious  application  of  this  rare 
historical  canon.  The  Angles  in  Britain,  the  Turks  in  Greece,  the  English, 
Spanish,  and  Portuguese  in  America,  (all  of  them  at  present  pretty  consi- 
derable nations),  we  must  conclude  are  all  without  any  known  origin,  or 
gi-ew  like  plants  from  the  soil ;  and  all  which  we  have  read  of  Hengist, 
Mahomet  II.,  Columbus,  and  William  Penn,  are  inventions  of  later  ages, 
and  equally  vain  with  the  "  traditions  collected  by  Moses."  Or,  if  these 
nations  do  not  deserve  in  his  opinion  the  epithet  of  "  great,"  there  is  one  at 
least  to  which  he  will  not  refuse  that  magnificent  title,  which  has  been  said 
to  owe  its  present  name,  its  laws,  and  its  renown  to  a  race  of  foreign 
adventurers.  Clovis,  however,  we  must  hereafter  suppose  is  a  character 
entirely  fabulous,  and  the  Franks  must  have  either  grown  out  of  the  earth 
in  Gaul,  or  at  least  have  continued  there  from  a  period  beyond  the  earliest 
"  Aurora  of  History."  So  much  for  the  historical  intelligence  of  those  who 
despise  as  fabulous  or  absurd  "  the  traditions  collected  by  Moses." 

It  may  be  thought  then,  on  the  whole,  that  no  good  reason  has  been 
given  for  deserting  or  interpolating  the  information  afforded  by  Nestor  ;  and 
that  the  name  of  Russian  Avas  unknown  in  the  east  of  Europe  before  the 


DIX. 


HISTORY  OF  THE  COSSAKS.  631 

time  of  the  Waratigian  invasion.  The  Rhoxolani,  I  am  willing  to  beheve,  '^p'II^^- 
from  Strabo's  account  of  them,  were  a  numerous  nation  of  Slavonians  ;  but 
as  we  hear  no  more  of  them  in  any  writer  of  authority  for  so  many  hun- 
dred years  afterwards,  it  is  impossible  to  decide  on  their  probable  fate,  or 
their  subsequent  place  of  habitation.  No  such  people,  I  apprehend,  are 
mentioned  by  Jornandes  among  those  whom  the  Goths  encountered  in 
their  passage  from  the  Baltic  to  the  Euxine. 

LXII. — The  Slavonians  or  Sloveni,  with  whom  the  Russians  thus 
coalesced,  were  a  branch  of  that  great  family  whose  language  is  diffused 
through  the  several  tribes  of  Wends,  Poles,  Prussians,  Muscovites,  Bo- 
hemians, Moravians,  Bosnians,  Croatians,  Servians,  and  Cossaks.  All 
these  nations  at  the  present  day,  however  distant  their  homes,  understand 
and  converse  with  each  other,  on  first  meeting,  -with  surprizing  readiness  and 
fluency  ;  and,  notwithstanding  the  various  distinctive  appellations  which 
they  have  adopted,  acknowledge  the  name  of  Slavon  as  the  common  term 
for  all.  This  word,  according  to  Gibbon,  and  most  other  ^vl•iters  on  the 
subject,  was,  with  the  usual  pride  of  barbarians,  derived  from  the  Slavonic 
word  "  Slav,"  glory  or  renown.  But  as  in  the  oldest  Chronicles  the  word  is 
not  "  Slavoni,"  but  "  Sloveni,"  and  as  at  the  present  day,  all  those  who  do 
not  speak  their  language  are  called  by  them  "  Nemitzi,"  or  "  Silent,"  it  is 
probable  that  "  the  speaking  race"  would  be  the  term  by  which  they  would 
most  naturally  distinguish  themselves,  and  that  the  root  from  which  their 
name  is  taken  is  "  Slovo,"  a  "  speech  or  discourse."  The  same  learned 
theorists  who  have  deduced  so  many  of  the  western  nations  of  Europe  from 
the  Scythians,  have,  with  equal  positiveness,  and,  perhaps,  with  as  little 
reason,  assumed  that  the  Slavonians  are  of  Sarmatic  race.  But  as  we 
know  that  the  Sarmatians  spoke  a  dialect  of  the  Scythian  language,  it 
should  seem  that  the  difference  between  this  last  and  the  Slavonian,  is  a 
very  strong  proof  against  such  a  relationship.  And  it  is  remarkable  that 
the  ancient  names  of  all  the  principal  rivers  of  Scythia,  instead  of  bearing 
marks  of  a  Slavonic  original,  have  no  consistent  meaning  in  any  dialect  of 
that  language,  and  either  prove  by  their  Celtic  derivations  that  they  were 
imposed  by  the  original  Cwmraeg,  or  belong  to  some  language  to  which 
modern  Europe  is  altogether  a  stranger  '.     The  language,  indeed,  as  well 

'  It  would  be  perhaps  most  natural  to  expect  that  the  etymology  of  rivers  and  other 
features  of  nature  should  be  found  in  the  language  of  the  first  occupants  ;  and  that,  as  the 
Celts  were,  doubtless,  first  in  possession  of  Scythia,  the  names  of  these  objects  should  be  traced 
to  Celtic.     Accordingly,  we  find  that  Don,  Doon  or  Tan,   the  Celtic  for  a  wave  or   stream,  is 

9 


632  HISTORY  OF  THE  COSSAKS. 

APPEX-   as  the  mythology  of  the  Slavonians',  would  lead  us  to  place  them  among 


DIX. 


the  most  ancient  European  tribes,  and  those  most  nearly  connected  with 

found  as  the  common  appellation  of  the  Scythian  waters  oftheDonetz  or  Tanais,  the  Don,  the 
Danapies  or  Dnieper,  the  Danastris  or  Dnieper,  or  the  Donau  or  Danube  itself.  Thus  the 
Danapies  is,  apparently,  Tanau-brys,  the  "  river  of  rapids,"  and  Danastris,  Tan-astrys,  "the 
winding  stream."  Don-au  is  the  union  of  two  words  of  nearly  the  same  meaning,  in  the  same 
manner  as  Dywr-don-wy  is  the  ancient  name  for  the  Dee.  Ister,  or  Isder,  the  name  given  to 
the  lower  Danube,  has  also,  in  Celtic,  a  corresponding  signification.  In  Russian  and  Slavo- 
nian, none  of  these  names  have  any  meaning ;  though  Dno,  I  have  been  told,  signifies  "  a 
bottom,"  or  "  a  shallow," — surely  no  appropriate  name  to  such  deep  and  mighty  waters  as  those 
in  question.  L'Evesque,  indeed,  attempts  to  derive  Borysthenes  from  "  Bor,"  a  fir-tree,  and 
"  Stanitzi,"  a  wall,  or  fortified  village  ;  a  strange  name  for  any  river,  more  especially  for  one 
the  banks  of  which  are  by  no  means  well  clotlied  with  timber.  But  Borysthenes  is,  appa- 
rently, the  same  with  Danapies  inverted ;  and  may  be  resolved,  like  that,  into  Brys-Don-wy, 
or  Brys-Don-aw.  For  this  new  light  on  Scythian  etymology,  I  am  chiefly  indebted  to  my 
friend  Mr.  Bernard  Bosanquet  *,  who,  tliough  not  of  Celtic  extraction,  has  studied  their  lan- 
guage and  antiquities  with  a  zeal  and  success  which  few  of  even  the  genuine  Britons  have 
surpassed. 

'  The  following  are  the  names  of  the  principal  Slavonic  divinities,  taken  from  L'Evesque, 
and  the  more  ancient  authority  of  Strikovvsky,  (Kronica  Macieia)  and  Duysburg  (Chronicon 
Prussia).  The  reader  will  not  fail  to  observe  their  close  correspondence  with  the  superstitions 
of  Greece  and  India.  Peroun  was  Jupiter  the  thunderer.  Koupalo,  Saturn,  or  Belus,  honoured 
with  bonfires  and  rejoicings  every  midsvunmer-eve.  Lada  was  Venus,  and  Leliu,  or  Cupid, 
was  her  son.  Trigliva  was  Hecate  Triforrais,  as  the  Slavonian  name  implies.  And  Zenovia, 
a  huntress,  answering  to  Diana.  Svetovid,  "  the  holy  seer,"  was  Apollo,  to  whom  horses 
were  consecrated  ;  and  who  appears  to  have  been  gradually  metamorphosed  into  St.  Vitus,  a 
saint  who  has  received  much  popular  homage  in  the  north,  though  his  name  appears  no  where 
in  the  calendar.  Znitch  was  Vesta,  the  deity  of  fire  :  Ziemennik,  the  god  of  the  earth,  or  Pluto  : 
Tzar  Morski,  "  sea-king,"  answered  to  Neptune.  There  was  also  a  Tchoudo-Morskoe,  "sea- 
monster,"  corresponding  to  the  Triton  of  the  Greeks,  and  the  Kelpie  and  Noeck  of  the 
north.  The  Rousalki  were  nymphs,  beautiful  and  amorous,  inhabitants  of  the  woods  and 
waters ;  and  the  Lecky  were  the  satyrs,  compounded  of  the  goat  and  the  human  figure,  sport- 
ive and  mischievous,  and  still  greatly  dreaded  by  the  Malo-Russian  girls,  who  believe  that 
they  lurk  in  the  bushes  to  seize  on  females,  whom  they  are  accused  of  tickling  to  death.  A 
strange  and  singularly  wild  custom,  apparently  connected  with  this  superstition,  prevailed  in 
the  province  of  Kief  so  late  as  the  beginning  of  the  last  century.  On  certain  holydays  it  was 
the  custom  of  every  village,  for  all  its  inhabitants,  high  and  low,  from  the  lord  to  the  slave,  to 
dance  together  on  the  green  which  generally  environs  them.  On  these  occasions  it  was  the 
privilege  of  the  young  men,  from  time  immemorial,  to  rush  forward  dressed  in  skins,  and, 
with  loud  cries,  to  carry  off  any  one  damsel  whom  they  could  catch,  or  who  pleased  their 
fancy,  whom  they  consigned  to  one  of  their  number  in  the  covert  of  the   nearest   wood.     If 


*  Now,   1830,   The  Hon.  Sir  John  Bernard  Bosanquet,  judge  of  the  Courts  of  King's 
Bench  and  Common  Pleas. 


HISTORY  OF  THE  COSSAKS. 


633 


the  Greeks  and  Romans  ;  and  it  furnishes,  as  will  be  seen  in  the  Appendix, 
a  more  satisfactory  link  between  these  last  and  the  Gothic  dialects,  than 
any  other  with  which  we  are  acquainted '.     In  manners,  too,  the  same 


APPEN- 
DIX. 


the  ravisher  could  conceal  her  there  for  twenty-four  hours,  he  was  entitled  to  a  free  pardon, 
and  was  generally  married  to  his  prize.  But  his  life  depended  on  his  success ;  since,  if  he 
were  overtaken  by  the  friends  of  the  female  during  his  flight,  or  discovered  in  his  lurking- 
place  before  the  stated  time  was  over,  his  head  was  cut  off  without  mercy  or  any  form  of 
trial.  Even  the  daughters  of  the  lord  of  the  manor  were  liable  to  this  risk,  though,  it  may  be 
presumed,  they  were  generally  pretty  well  guarded.  Of  the  Tchoudo-Morskoe  the  same 
stories,  nearly,  are  told,  as  are  related  in  Norway  and  Scotland  of  the  Noeck  or  Kelpie.  To 
Ziemennik,  the  god  of  the  earth,  snakes  were  consecrated ;  and  a  large  black  snake  is  often,  at 
the  present  day,  the  inmate  of  a  Podolian  cottage,  which  is  fed  carefully  with  eggs  and  milk, 
and  is  the  harmless  favourite  of  the  children.  The  utility  of  such  a  domestic  is,  indeed,  one 
probable  motive  for  the  protection  which  he  receives.  The  earthen  floors  of  the  houses  in 
these  countries  are,  in  spring,  continually  visited  by  frogs  and  toads.  At  Odessa,  in  the  best 
inn  of  the  city,  I  was  often  obliged,  on  leaving  my  bed  of  a  morning,  to  use  great  caution  in 
avoiding  a  collision  between  my  naked  feet  and  these  disgusting  "  contubernales."  One  of 
the  sacred  snakes  of  Ziemennik  would  soon  have  cleared  the  premises. 

'  The  frequent  occurrence  of  Greek  and  Latin  words  in  the  various  Slavonian  dialects,  is 
obvious  to  all  who  visit  the  east  of  Europe ;  and  it  is  the  more  remarkable,  because  these 
regions  have  not,  like  the  Celtic  countries  of  the  west,  been  subject  to  the  Roman  empire,  and 
because  their  religious  intercourse  with  Rome  or  Constantinople  can  have  had  but  little  effect 
on  the  familiar  language  of  a  country,  where  writing  and  reading  are,  among  the  common 
people,  very  rare  accomplishments.  The  following  parallels  are  selected  from  words  of  the 
most  common  occurrence  ;  and  some  of  diem  arc  very  remarkable  hnks  between  the  dialects 
of  the  north  and  south. 


Slavonic. 

Grad       .     .     . 
Plamia     . 
Glyba 

Loutch    .     . 
Lieva      .     .     . 
Swon 

Notch  .  .  . 
Voda  .  .  . 
Vetr.  .  .  . 
More  .  .  . 
Noss  .  . 
Sol  ...  . 
Semia 

Gorod,  or  Grad 
Gosti,  or  Hosti 
Rad  (Nestor)    . 
VOL.  I. 


Laiin 

Grando  . 

Flamma 

Gleba 

Lux   . 

Sinistra 

Sonus 

Nox  . 


Vadum 

Ventus 

Mare 

Nasus 

Sal     . 

Semen 


Hostis 


EngUsh. 

Hail 
Flame 
Clod 
Light 

The  left  hand 
Soimd 
Night      . 
Water     . 
Wind      . 
Sea 
Nose 
Salt 
Seed 

A  town  .     .     .     Gard  ( S^redish) 
Stranger,  or  enemy, — of  old  synonymous  terms. 
Rede,  or  counsel.  'P»;rwp  Rad  (Swedish) 

4   M 


\aioe 

Suono  (Italian) 

vvE,         Nos  (Celtic) 

vciap — vSa-oQ        Vatn  (Swedish) 

Wetter,  a  storm,  (German) 


634 


HISTORY  OF  THE  COSSAKS. 


APPEN- 
DIX 


general  difference  from  Scythian  or  Sarmatic  habits  (and  that  these  two 
were  similar  can  hardly,  I  apprehend,  be  denied)  will  be  found  to  have 


Slavonic. 

Latin. 

English. 

Novo       .     .     . 

.      .      Novus     . 

.     New 

Malo       .     .     . 

.     .     Mains?  .     . 

.     Little,  paltry 

Ovsta      .     .     . 

.     .     Ovis  .     . 

.     A  sheep 

Osel  (pronouncec 

Asel)  Asellus  .     . 

.     Ass    .     .     . 

CEsel  (German) 

Swenia   .     .     . 

.     .     Sus,  suillus . 

.     Swine 

Dom  .... 

.     Domiis    .     . 

.     Home     .     . 

Ao^ioj 

Sinapi     . 

.     Sinape     .     . 

.     Mustard 

.     Zifairt         Sennep  f  German) 

Muitch   .     .     . 

.     .     Mus  .     .     . 

.     Mouse 

Dalgo     .     .     . 

. 

.     Long 

lo\i\og 

Vorona  .     . 

.     .     Comix    . 

,     Crow       .     . 

Koputvie 

Golub     .     .     . 

.     Columba 

.     Dove 

Pubatz  (Polish) 

.     .     Bubo       .     . 

.     An  owl 

Gus   .... 

.         .     .     .     . 

.     Goose 

Oko  .     .     .     . 

.     .     Oculus    .     . 

.     Eye   .     .     . 

.     Occhi  (Italian)    Auge  (German) 

Solntze   .     . 

.     .     Sol     .     .     . 

Sun    .      .     . 

.     Sonne  (German) 

Liona      .     .     . 

.     Luna       .     . 

.     Moon 

Den  .... 

.     Dies,  diurnu 

s   .     Day   .     .     . 

.     Srjv,  BriyaioQ    long  ago,  many  days 

Vetcher  .     .     . 

.     .     Vesper    . 

.     Evening 

tairepog 

Mesetz   .     .     . 

.     .     Mensis    . 

.     Month    .     . 

.     Mrjv. — juEic  (jEoUce) 

Sniet       .     .     . 

. 

.     Snow 

.     Snee  (Swedish) 

Reka       .     .     . 

. 

.     River      .     . 

.     peo),  fluo 

Zenili      .     .     . 

. 

.     Earth      .     . 

.     Zemin  (Persian) 

Oden      .      .     . 

. 

.     One   .      .     . 

tv 

Dva  .     .     .     . 

.     .     Duo  .     . 

.     Two  . 

.     Ivo         Dou  (Persian) 

Tie    .... 

.     Tres,  tria 

.     Three      .     . 

rptic,  Tpta 

Tchetera      .     . 

. 

.     Four 

.     Tearrapa,  rerapTog     Ciar  (Persian) 

Pet    ...     . 

. 

.     Five  .     .     . 

■KiVTE 

Tchest    .     .     . 

.     .     Sex    .     . 

.     .     Six    .     .     . 

.     li,           Schesh  (Persian) 

Sedm      .     .     . 

.     .     Septem  . 

.     .     Seven 

Deciat    .     .     . 

.     .     Decern    . 

.     Ten  .     .     . 

.     SgKa 

Esm  .... 

.     .     Sum 

.     .     I  am 

.     eifii.  eiTfiL  (Dorice)  Em  (Persian) 

Essi   .... 

.     .     Es      .     . 

.     Thou  art 

.     £(Tai  (Dorice) 

Est     ...     . 

.     .     Est    .     . 

.     .     Heis      .     . 

.     £(771        Est  (Persian) 

Sout  .... 

.     .     Sunt  .     . 

.     .     They  are 

Proch!    .     .     . 

.     Procul    . 

.     .     Away,  off! 

Stati  .... 

.     Stare 

.     .     To  stand 

Sedeti     .     .     . 

■.     .     Sedere    . 

.     .     To  sit 

Dai    ...     . 

.     .     Da     .     . 

.     Give  me 

Padite     .     .     . 

.     Vadere  . 

.     .     To  go  away 

Videti     .     .     . 

.     .     Videre    . 

.     .     To  see 

Pasti       .     .     . 

.     .     Pascere,  Pa 

stus     To  feed 

HISTORY  OF  THE  COSSAKS. 


635 


existed  in  all  the  tribes  of  Slavons,  which  I  have  already  pointed  out  in  the    appen- 
dix 
case  of  the  Greeks,    Goths,  and   Thracians ;   the   same   distinctions   of  ' 

stationary,  though  simple   dwellings  ;   of  attachment   to   husbandry  and 

maritime  affairs ;  the  use,  too,  of  the  large  shield  in  war,  and  equal  agility 

on  foot,  are  ascribed  to  the  Slavonians,  as  to  the  other  tribes  of  the  west. 

And  so  striking  were  these  distinctions  to  contemporary  wiiters,  that  the 

Venedi    or  Wends,  who  are  known  to  have   been   Slavonians,  and  the 

BastarnfB,  Penci,  and  Rhoxolani,  whom,  as  will  be  proved  immediately, 

there  is  every  reason  to  consider  as  such,  were  referred,  both  by  Tacitus 

and  Strabo,  to  the  German  rather  than  to  the  Sarmatic  nation. 


Slavonic. 
Mogu      .... 

la 

Mene Mei 


English. 


Latin. 

I  may     .     .     .     Ich  moge  (German) 

Ego    ....  I Jag  (Swedish) 

.     .     .  Mine  (genitive) 


Tui Tu     ....  Thou 

On He     .     . 

Evo Ejus       .     .     .  His 

Emu  (dative) Him 

Moi  (adj.)    ....     Meus      .     .     .  Mine 

Moia Mea 

Moe Meum 

Svoi Suus        .     .     .  His 

Tvoi Tuus       .     .     .  Thine 

Toi That  .     . 

Covo Cujus      .     .     .  Wliose 

Arou Avo  ....  I  plougli 

Plyvon I  sail 

Pepton I  cook     . 

Po Upon 


Han  (Swedish) 


OVTOQ 


irXtoi 

Paa  (Swedish) 


These  words  are  taken  from  the  Russian  dialect  of  Slavonia.  L'Evesque  gives  many 
more ;  but  I  admitted  none  which  had  not  fallen  under  my  own  knowledge,  and  rejected 
several  whicli  might  be  reasonably  supposed  of  foreign  growth,  and  introduced  by  the  inter- 
course of  the  Russians  with  other  nations.  Those  who  wish  to  see  the  strong  jjoints  of 
resemblance  between  the  grammar  of  the  Russians  and  the  Greeks  and  Latins,  may  consult 
the  short  treatise  of  that  most  extraordinary  linguist,  Henry  Wilhelm  Ludolf,  (Oxon,  1696.) 
The  foregoing  specimen  may,  however,  serve  to  show  the  importance  of  the  Slavonic  dialects 
to  those  who  wish  to  trace  the  connection  between  the  northern  and  southern  languages  of 
Europe  ;  and  may  prove  that  the  settlement  of  the  Slavonians  in  tlie  west  must  have  been 
much  earlier  than  the  time  which  is  generally  assigned  to  them. 

The  verb  substantive  esm,  essi,  est,  is  pronounced  as  if  it  were  written  jesm,  jessi,  jest  ; 
on  which  L'Evesque  remarks,  that  Cicero,  (De  Oratore  iii.  4.)  assures  us  that  it  was  accounted 
elegant  among  the  Romans  thus  to  pronounce  the  E  as  if  a  J  preceded  it. 

4  M  2 


G36  HISTORY  OF  THE  COSSAKS. 

APPEN-  LXIII. — Aerain,  we  find  many  tribes  of  Slavonic  extraction  in  situa- 

DIX 

.  —  tions,  whitlier  it  requires  a  very  ardent  love  of  hypothesis  to  suppose  that 
the  Sarmatians  were  likely  to  penetrate.  They  occupied,  at  a  very  early 
period,  Lusatia,  Pomerania,  and  the  Isle  of  Rugen.  The  Carni  are  placed 
by  Strabo  in  their  present  countiy  of  Carniola  ;  the  Save  and  Drave  bore, 
in  the  time  of  that  geographer,  their  modern  Slavonic  appellations.  The 
language  of  Pannonia  and  the  Osi  was  different,  according  to  Tacitus,  from 
both  German  and  Sarmatic  ;  and  the  ancient  names  of  places  in  lUyria, 
afford,  according  to  the  learned  and  cautious  Dolci,  many  remarkable 
proofs  that  their  primitive  occupants  were  Slavonians.  Now  the  irruption  of 
the  Sarmatians  into  Europe  must  have  been  preceded  by  the  conquest  of 
the  Scythians  ;  and  neither  the  one  or  the  other  of  these  events  is  placed 
by  learned  men  much  earlier  than  the  Christian  era.  How,  then,  was  it 
possible  that  so  close  on  this  event,  the  Sarmatians  could  have  penetrated 
so  far  as  the  provinces  bordering  on  the  Adriatic,  or  have  given  names  to 
the  rivers  of  Pannonia.  But  further,  Jornandes,  the  Gothic  historian, 
describes  all  Poland  from  the  Baltic  to  the  Carpathian  mountains,  as  being 
occupied,  previous  to  the  irruption  of  the  Goths,  by  nations  of  Slavonic 
descent ;  and  this  description  must,  therefore,  have  included  the  Bastarnae 
and  Pencini,  who,  as  well  as  the  Rhoxolani,  are  effectually  distinguished  by 
Strabo  from  the  Sarmatians ;  and  who  are,  by  the  same  authority  of 
Jornandes,  shown,  in  opposition  to  Mr.  Pinkerton,  to  have  been,  not  of 
Gothic  but  of  Slavonic  ancestry.  And  though  we  cannot  say,  with  equal 
certainty  that  the  Getse  and  Thracians  were  also  Slavonic,  yet  as  a 
Slavonic  population  was  found  by  the  Magyars  extending  over  the  whole  of 
Pannonia,  it  cannot  seem  improbable  that  this  had  always  been  the  case  ; 
and  that  the  tribes  bordering  on  the  Ister  were  the  same  with  those  of  the 
Drave.  I  have  already  remarked  the  pedantry  of  the  Byzantine  writers, 
and  the  frequent  impropriety  with  which  they  applied  the  names  of  an- 
cient to  modern  nations  ;  and  on  that  account  I  lay  very  little  stress  on  the 
testimony  of  Cantacuzenus  and  Theodoret,  of  whom  the  first  repeatedly 
calls  the  Slavonians,  TribaUi,  and  the  second  asserts  that  they  were  the 
same  people  who  were  anciently  named  Getae.  It  is  of  somewhat  more 
importance  that  Procopius  places  the  paternal  seat  of  the  Slavi  on  the 
Danube.  The  name  of  Veneti,  Feneti,  or  Venidse,  is  of  known  Slavonic 
origin,  applying  perfectly  to  the  situation,  not  only  of  the  Wends  on  the 
furthest  edge  of  the  north,  but  to  the  ancient  Eneti  or  Venetians  at  the 
extremity  of  western  Thrace ;  and  if  we  suppose  (what  cannot  be  con- 


HISTORY  OF  THE  COSSAKS.  (137 

sidered  as  an  extravagant  opinion)  that  these  last  were  of  the  same  stock  appen- 
vvith  the  neighbouring  Carni,  and,  perhaps,  with  the  VindeHci,  not  only  is  ^^^'  - 
a  kindred  fully  made  out  between  the  Thracians  and  the  Slavons,  but  the 
origin  of  both  from  a  very  different  race  from  either  Scythians  or  Sauromatte, 
is  established  by  the  clearest  evidence,  and  a  new  and  very  important  light 
is  thrown  on  the  remarkable  connection  between  the  Latin  and  Slavonic 
languages.  For  the  Veneti  and  Tyrseni,  tribes  of  Asia  Minor,  the  kindred 
of  the  Phrygians  and  Thracians,  emigi-ated  about  the  same  period  from 
their  former  habitations  ;  the  one  through  Thrace  to  the  north  of  Italy  ; 
the  other  by  sea  to  its  western  coast,  where  they  estabhshed  the  Etruscan 
republic  '.  It  should  seem,  then,  that  the  same  Slavonic  language,  which 
now  prevails  in  the  north  and  west  of  Thrace,  has  at  every  period,  since 
the  dawn  of  history,  existed  there;  and  it  is  possible  that  it  is  by  this  channel, 
as  the  intervening  link  between  the  Greeks  and  Goths,  and  orientals,  that 
we  have  the  best  chance  of  tracing  those  derivations  which  have  been 
noticed  as  common  to  all. 

LXI V. — To  verify  this  conjecture,  a  more  accurate  and  ample  collection 
is  required  of  Getic,  Phrygian,  Thracian,  and  Dacian  words  than  any  which 
has  been  yet  attempted.  Had  we  those  Getic  hexameters  and  pentameters 
which  Ovid  recited  with  so  much  applause  to  the  warlike  tribes  of  the 
Danube,  how  much  labour  might  be  saved  to  contending  antiquaries.  Yet 
may  this  circumstance  lead  us  to  identify  the  language  of  the  Gette  with  the 
Slavonian  rather  than  with  the  Gothic  tongue  ;  since  the  former  is  more 
likely  to  have  complied  with  the  rules  of  Latin  prosody,  than  any  dialect  of 
the  latter  with  which  I  am  acquainted.  The  language  of  Ulphila  would 
limp  strangely  ill  on  Roman  feet.  But  to  whatever  extent  the  above 
hypothesis  be  carried,  enough  has  been  said  to  prove,  at  least,  that  the 
Slavons  were  not  a  Sarmatian  colony ;  and  those  warlike  savages,  like 
their  Scythian  kindred,  instead  of  usurping  the  name  of  the  great  colonists 
of  Europe,  must  be  contented  hei-eafter  with  the  humble  renown  of  having 
invaded  and  wandered  over  a  very  moderate  portion  of  its  svn-face. 

'  Strabo,  L.  xi. 

^  "  Ah  pudet,  et  Getico  scrips!  sernione  li'oellum, 
Structaque  sunt  nostris  barbara  verba  modis. 

Hsec  ubi  non  patria  perlegi  scripta  Camoena, 

Venit  et  ad  digitos  ultima  charta  meos, 
Et  caput,  et  plenas  omnes  movere  pharetras, 

Et  longum  Getico  murmur  in  ore  fuit." 

EinsL  de  Pont.  L.  iv.  E.  10. 


BOOK  11. 


The  Warangian  chieftains,  Askliold  and  Dir,  had  scarcely  established  them- 
selves in  Kief,  than,  with  the  characteristic  restlessness  of  northern  pirates, 
they  meditated  a  more  important  expedition  '.  From  Kief  to  the  Euxine, 
the  course  of  the  Dnieper  offers  a  short  and  obvious  communication  ;  and 
the  thirteen  cataracts  of  this  beautiful  river  were  not  obstacles  which  could 
deter  the  mariners  of  Scandinavia,  whose  light  canoes  were  easily  carried 
over  land,  whenever  such  a  step  was  necessary,  on  the  shoulders  of  their 
crews  \  The  circumstances  of  this  navigation  and  of  these  portages,  (of 
which  the  principal  danger  arose  from  the  attacks  of  the  neighbouring  Pat- 
zinacitae,)  are  sufficiently  detailed  by  L'Evesque  and  Gibbon  ^ ;  but  neither 
has  noticed  that  the  form  of  the  Warangian  vessels  of  the  ninth  century,  on 
the  Dnieper,  exactly  answered  to  the  description  given  by  Tacitus  of  the 
boats  employed  in  his  time  to  carry  the  Scandinavians  from  one  island  to 
another.  For  these  boats,  which  were  only  made  of  willow  and  beech, 
covered  with  leather,  the  banks  of  the  Dnieper  afforded  sufficient  materials ; 
and  Askhold,  leaving  Dir  at  Kief  to  secure  their  recent  conquest,  set  out 
with  the  greater  part  of  his  Warangians  to  attack  Constantinople.  His 
voyage  was  prosperous,  and  he  had  almost  succeeded  in  his  object,  when  a 
sudden  storm,  imputed  to  the  exhibition  of  a  consecrated  garment  which 
had  adorned  an  image  of  the  Virgin  Mary,  destroyed  a  part  of  his  fleet  * ; 

'  Nestor. 

^  The  marvellous  voyage  and  tedious  portages  of  Mr.  Mackenzie,  in  North  America,  fully 
vindicate  the  truth  not  only  of  the  similar  exertions  made  by  the  Russians,  but  of  the  still 
more  extraordinary  transportation  of  the  Argo  from  the  Danube  to  the  Adriatic,  and 

Quicquid  Grsecia  mendax 
Audet  in  historia. 

'  L'Evesque,  Hist,  de  Russie,  torn.  i.  pp.  107,  108.     Gibbon. 
*  Gibbon. 


HISTORY  OF  THE  COSSAKS.  039 

and  Askhold,  either  alarmed  or  weakened,  solicited  baptism,  and  retired  from  appen 
his  prey.  Fifteen  years  afterwards,  the  two  sovereigns  of  Kief  were  invited  "^'^' 
to  a  friendly  conference  by  Oleg,  prince  of  Novogorod,  to  whom  Ruric,  on 
his  death-bed,  had  bequeathed  his  sovereignty  and  the  guardianship  of  his 
infant  son '.  They  attended  without  scruple,  but  were  instantly  seized  and 
murdered  by  their  treacherous  host ',  on  pretence  that,  not  being  of  Ruric's 
blood,  they  had  presumed  to  exercise  sovereignty  over  a  part  of  the  Russian 
people.  The  murderer  took  possession  of  their  city  without  opposition,  and 
leading  his  ward,  young  Igor,  in  Kief,  set  out  himself  on  a  second  expedi- 
tion against  Constantinople.  This  was  more  fortunate  than  the  former,  if 
we  beheve  the  Russian  chronicles  ;  and  the  Emperor  Leo  was  glad  to  pur- 
chase the  retreat  of  his  invaders  at  the  rate  of  twelve  pounds  of  gold  to 
every  ship.  A  treaty  of  commerce  was,  at  the  same  time,  ratified  between 
the  Greeks  and  Russians,  to  the  faithful  observance  of  Avhich,  the  latter 
swore  on  their  swords,  and  by  the  gods  "  Peroun  and  Voloss  \"  In  fact, 
a  very  considerable  trade  in  slaves,  honey,  fish,  hemp,  and  furs,  was  at  this 
time  carried  on  between  the  Slavonians  and  their  southern  neighbours,  and, 
far  more  than  these  pillaging  excursions,  brought  to  the  Russian  nation  a 
degree  of  wealth,  which  made  it  long  an  object  of  envy  and  wonder  to  the 
remoter  tribes  of  the  north  and  west.  This  second  Russian  invasion  is  not, 
however,  noticed  by  the  Byzantine  writers  *,  and  it  is,  therefore,  probable 
that  its  importance  is  greatly  exaggerated.  It  is,  indeed,  impossible  to  be- 
lieve the  chronicles  which  give  to  Oleg  two  thousand  barks,  and  eighty 
thousand  men :  the  whole  united  nation  of  Warangians  could  not  have 
furnished  so  great  a  multitude. 

II. — But  though  Oleg  was  thus  formidable  at  Constantinople,  he  was 
himself  exposed  to  considerable  danger  at  home,  by  the  arrival  of  the  tre- 
mendous swarm  of  Finnic  nations,  who,  under  the  common  name  of  Hun- 
garians, or  Magyar,  advanced  from  the  east,  in  their  way  to  the  country 
which  they  now  inhabit  K  Of  these  formidable  passengers,  the  Russians 
merely  record  that  they  formed  a  camp,  "  drawing  up  their  waggons  after 
the  manner  of  the  Polotzi,"  on  the  hill  near  Kief,  where  the  Russian  princes 
were  afterwards  buried,  and  which  still  preserves,  from  these  "  Ougurs," 

'  Nestor.  '  L'Evesque. 

'  Voloss  is  the  Scandinavian  Pan,  the  guardian  of  flocks  and  herds.  The  custom  of 
swearing  by  the  sword  was,  as  we  have  aheady  seen,  familiar  to  so  many  nations,  tliat  it  cannot 
be  considered  as  any  mark  of  descent. 

'  Gibbon.  ^  Nestor. 


640  HISTORY  OF  THE  COSSAKS. 

APPEX-    the  name  of  "  Ourgoraskaia  Gory."     Of  their  further  exploits,  thej'  only 


DIX. 


tell  us  that  they  passed  over  the  mountains  towards  the  Danube,  and  sub- 
dued the  Slavonians  and  Vlachi,  who  inhabited  its  vicinity.  The  Hunga- 
rian annals  give  a  very  different  account,  and  speak  of  a  bloody  battle 
fought  between  their  tribes  and  the  vmited  army  of  Russians  and  Cumani ; 
of  an  annual  tribute  imposed  on  the  dukes  of  Kief;  of  hostages  given  for 
its  due  performance  ;  and  of  the  emigration  of  great  part  of  the  Cumanian 
nation,  in  company  with  these  new  warriors  of  the  east.  But  the  Cumani, 
we  know,  had  not  then  left  their  original  habitation  on  the  Caspian  ;  and 
this  errour,  on  so  material  a  part  of  their  history,  must  naturally  throw 
considerable  doubt  over  the  remainder,  though  it  be  not  equally  impossible. 
On  the  whole,  from  the  testimony  of  the  Russians,  compared  with  that  of 
the  Hungarians,  it  may  seem  that  the  former  were  content,  by  presents 
and  submission,  to  purchase  the  peaceable  departure  of  these  warlike  visit- 
ors ;  and  that,  for  this  time  at  least,  they  escaped  the  storm  of  invasion  by 
bowing  the  head,  and  letting  it  pass  over.  Oleg  himself,  after  a  prosperous 
reign  of  three-and-thirty  years,  died  in  consequence  of  the  bite  of  a  ser- 
pent ;  and  the  crowns  of  Kief  and  Novogorod  descended  to  his  pupil,  Igor, 
son  of  Ruric. 

HI. — Igor  is  chiefly  remarkable  for  his  two  attempts  against  Constanti- 
nople, of  which  Gibbon  has  given  an  account,  and  which  terminated,  as 
usual,  in  a  costly  present  to  the  invaders,  and  a  new  treaty  of  commerce 
between  them  and  the  Greeks.  The  curse  denounced  against  those  who 
should  violate  this  truce  is  curious,  as  uniting  the  terrours  of  the  Christian 
and  heathen  divinities,  and  therefore  proving  that  many  among  the  Rus- 
sians had  already  embraced  the  true  faith.  "  If  a  Russian  break  the  peace, 
if  he  be  baptized,  let  him  be.  damned  in  this  world,  and  in  the  world  to 
come ;  if  not  baptized,  let  him  have  no  help  either  from  God  or  Peroun  ; 
let  his  shield  fail  him  in  time  of  need,  and  let  him  be  a  slave  evermore  in 
this  world,  and  in  the  world  to  come !"  An  article  of  the  same  treaty 
provides  that  whenever  the  Greek  emperor  stood  in  need  of  mercenary 
troops,  he  should  have  full  liberty  of  recruiting  among  the  Russians  ;  and 
we  find,  accordingly,  that  henceforth  the  Byzantine  sovereigns  were  always 
surrounded  by  numbers  of  these  hardy  northern  youths,  who  flocked  from 
Russia,  Scandinavia,  and  England,  to  the  high  Avages  and  easy  duties  of  a 
praetorian  guard. 
A.D.  945.  IV. — Igor  fell  in  an  ambush  of  the  revolted  Dreolians ;  and  his  widow, 

Olga,  took  the  sceptre  at  the  unanimous  request  of  both  Warangians  and 


HISTORY  OF  THE  COSSAKS.  641 

Slavons.     Her  reign  is  distinguished  by  the  visit  which  she  paid  to  Con-    appen- 
stantinople,  under  far  different  circumstances  from  those  of  her  predeces-  ■ 

sors — in  the  habit  of  peace,  and  to  receive  the  grace  of  baptism  ;  her  spon- 
sors being  Constantine  Porphyrogenitus  and  his  empress.  Olga  is  highly 
praised  for  her  beauty,  which  procured  her  the  title  of  "  Precrasna,"  "  most 
ruddy  ;"  and  which,  if  we  beUeve  an  ancient  Russian  chronicle ',  first  raised 
her  from  the  rank  of  a  slave  to  that  of  a  princess.  It  was  her  original  and 
humble  occupation  to  ferry  passengers  over  a  stream  ^  and  Igor  happened 
to  pass  that  way.  He  was  struck  with  her  beauty,  and  still  more  astonished 
at  a  virtue  which  was  at  once  proof  against  temptation  and  menaces.  He 
left  her,  but  it  was  not  long  before  he  returned  to  the  ferry  with  the  offer  of 
his  hand,  and  the  succession  to  the  crown.  The  Warangians  and  Slavons 
had  insisted  that  their  future  sovereign  should  marry.  Oleg  left  him  to  his 
choice,  and  his  choice  had  already  fallen  on  the  young  and  ruddy  boat- 
woman.  From  Oka  some  of  the  later  Russian  historians  date  the  conver- 
sion  of  their  country.  In  truth,  however,  it  appears,  from  the  testimony  of 
Nestor,  that  she  neither  built  Churches,  nor  even  ventured  to  profess  Chris- 
tianity pubhcly.  Sviatoslav,  her  son  and  successor,  resisted  all  her  efforts 
to  convince  or  persuade  him ;  and  it  appears  from  his  answer,  "  Wouldest 
thou  that  my  companions  should  mock  me  ?"  that  the  rehgion  of  the  Greeks 
and  the  example  of  an  old  woman  were,  at  that  time,  in  little  honour 
among  the  warlike  youth  of  Russia.  In  truth,  it  may  be  thought  that  Olga 
herself,  however  anxious  after  Christian  knowledge,  was  not  altogether 
satisfied  with  the  instruction  which  she  received.  As  if  displeased  with  the 
Greek  Chm-ch,  she  sent  ambassadors  to  Otho,  emperor  of  Germany,  to  re- 
quest from  him  some  Latin  ecclesiastics.  One  Adelbert  was  sent,  with 
some  companions  but  their  reception  in  Kief  was  not  such  as  to  induce 
them  to  continue  in  their  mission. 

V. — The  savage  virtues  of  Sviatoslav,  the  son  of  Igor  and  Olga,  have  a.d.  •ms. 
been  celebrated  by  all  historians.  The  rudeness  of  the  Scandinavian 
pirate  was  united  in  him  to  that  of  the  Tartar.  He  slept,  during  his 
military  expeditions,  on  the  ground  and  without  a  tent ;  and  was  often  con- 
tented with  a  repast  of  horse-flesh  broiled  on  the  coals.  His  whole  life 
was  one  continued  campaign,  and  in  its  commencement  he  was  highly 
successful.     Though  the  Chozares  still  retained  possession  of  the  Crimea, 

'  Kniga  Stephannaia,  cited  by  L'Evesque,  torn.  I.  p.  1 30. 

'  Among  many  of  the  northern  nations  the  office  of  a  ferry-wan  is  unknown  ;  the  use  of 
the  oar  is,  on  these  occasions,  always  entrusted  to  women. 
VOL.  I.  4    N 


042  HISTORY  OF  THE  COSSAKS. 

APPEN-    Sviatoslav  succeeded  in  destroying  their  power  on  the  continent ;  and  by 

===  the  capture  of  tlieir  principal  city,  Sarcel  or  Bula-Vesh,  extended  his 
eastern  boundary  as  far  as  the  Don.  On  his  return  from  this  expedition 
he  chastized  the  Petchenegui  or  Patzinacitae,  who,  during  his  absence,  had 
insulted  Kief.  This  wai"like  people,  who  are  now  first  noticed  in  the 
history  of  Scythia,  had,  during  the  weakness  of  the  Chozares,  assumed  the 
lead  among  the  most  formidable  enemies  of  the  Russian  princes.  On  the 
present  occasion,  however,  their  resistance  does  not  appear  to  have  been 
either  protracted  or  formidable,  since  we  find    Sviatoslav  the  following 

AD  9;o.  year  peaceably  attending  the  death-bed  of  his  mother,  and  two  years 
afterwards,  setting  out  on  the  great  expedition  against  the  Danubian 
provinces  in  wliich  he  had  conceived  the  design  to  fix  his  seat  of  empire, 
or  to  which  he  had  been,  according  to  the  Byzantine  historians,  invited  by 
the  emperor  Nicephorus  Phocas,  who  was  engaged  in  a  war  with  the 
Bulgarians.  The  termination  of  this  campaign  is  variously  told.  If  we 
believe  the  Russians,  Sviatoslav  was  always  triumphant ;  but  the  Greeks, 
with  more  apparent  reason,  assert  that  John  Zimisces,  the  successor  of 
Nicephorus,  defeated  him  in  several  successive  engagements,  and  forced 
him,  with  a  handful  of  men,  and  in  wretched  condition,  to  direct  his  march 
back  again  to  Kief.  But  this  measure  was  no  longer  in  his  power.  The 
Patzinacitae,  never  tamed,  and  lately  irritated,  were  not  likely  to  miss  such 
an  opportunity  of  revenge  ;  and  taking  post  in  the  neighbourhood  of  the 
cataract,  opposed  his  passage  up  the  Dnieper.  After  strugghng  some  time 
with  famine  (for  in  that  desert  situation  no  supphes  were  to  be  obtained) 
Sviatoslav,  at  last,  at  the  head  of  his  little  army  attempted  to  force  a  way 
through  his  enemies.  He  fell  in  the  effort,  and  his  skull,  adorned  with  a 
circle  of  gold,  was,  during  many  years,  the  favourite  drinking  cup  of  the 
Patzinacitae  sovereigns. 

AD.  9/2.  VI. — The  short  reign  of  Sviatoslav  was,  inmost  respects,  a  misfortune 

to  his  people.  His  savage  thirst  after  martial  renown  impeded  their  pro- 
gress in  the  arts  of  peace :  his  restless  expeditions  wasted  their  strength 
and  population  ;  and  the  custom  which  he  introduced  of  dividing  the  Rus- 
sian monarchy  into  different  appanages  amongst  his  children,  was,  in  the 
very  first  instance,  hurtful  to  the  state,  and  was  eventually  the  cause  of  its 
temporary  ruin.  Yet,  notwithstanding  the  wars  which,  immediately  on  his 
death,  arose  among  his  sons,  the  princes  of  Kief,  of  Novogorod,  and  of  the 
Dreolians,  the  boundary  of  Russia  became  daily  more  extensive.  Volodimir 
of  Novogorod,  by  the  assistance  of  a  fresh  Warangian  swarm,  subdued,  on 


HISTORY  OF  THE  COSSAKS.  643 

the  one  side,  Rogvold,  prince  of  Pultusk ;  and,  on  the  other,  pushed  his  appen- 
hunting  or  slave-trading  parties  to  the  passes  of  the  UraUan  mountains.  ==^= 
Aided  by  his  northern  allies,  he  at  length  succeeded  in  reuniting  all  the  dif- 
ferent members  of  the  Russian  sovereignty  into  one,  though  he  purchased 
their  success  by  the  murder  of  his  brother  Jaropolk,  who  had  himself  pre- 
viously stained  his  hands  with  the  blood  of  the  youngest  of  the  three,  Oleg, 
prince  of  Dreolia.  The  sons  of  Sviatoslav  were  as  bloody  in  their  idolatry 
as  in  their  ambition.  Volodimir  celebrated  his  victory  by  the  sacrifice  of  all 
his  prisoners  at  the  altar  of  Peroun,  and  by  the  martyrdom  of  two  Warangian 
Christians,  a  father  and  son,  who  were  regarded  as  still  more  acceptable 
victims  to  the  father  of  the  gods.  But  neither  these  horrible  rites  (which 
are  in  themselves,  perhaps,  the  proof  of  a  mind  not  perfectly  at  ease)  nor 
the  splendid  temples  and  images  which  he  reared  to  the  whole  calendar  of 
Slavonic  or  Scandina\'ian  deities,  had  power  to  relieve  his  conscience  from 
the  weight  of  a  brother's  blood.  Dissatisfied  with  the  little  comfort  which 
his  own  religion  afforded  him,  he  consulted  the  priests  of  all  the  neighbour-  a.d.  986. 
ing  nations,  the  Mahomedans  of  Great  Bulgaria,  the  Jews,  who  have  for 
so  many  centuries  remained  as  a  distinct  community  on  an  inaccessible 
rock  in  the  Crimea,  and  the  Christians  of  the  Latin  and  Greek  communions. 
Of  these,  the  last  prevailed ;  and  the  splendid  and  touching  ceremonies  of 
Easter,  which  the  Russian  merchants  were  in  the  habit  of  beholding  at 
Constantinople,  from  their  accounts,  made  so  great  an  impression  on  Volo- 
dimir, that  he  lost  no  time  in  embracing  so  picturesque  a  faith,  which  was 
further  recommended  by  the  example  of  his  grandmother,  Olga. 

VII. — A  strange  story  is  told  by  L'Evesque,  on  the  authority  of  the  a.d.  988. 
Russian  chronicles,  which  Gibbon  has  the  discretion  to  omit,  though  it 
pretty  much  resembles,  in  character  and  authority,  many  which  he  has  in- 
serted. Volodimir,  disdaining  to  ask  as  a  favour  of  the  emperor  of  Con- 
stantinople, Basil,  that  he  would  send  him  priests  to  convert  himself  and 
his  people,  resolved  to  conquer  such  spiritual  instructors  by  the  force  of 
arms,  and  laid  siege  to  Cherson.  That  celebrated  and  ancient  republic 
had,  during  all  the  revolutions  of  Scythia,  preserved  a  doubtful  freedom, 
and  a  connexion  with  the  other  Greeks ;  and  now,  though  the  Chozares, 
Patzinacitse,  and  Russians  contested,  with  various  fortune,  the  possession  of 
the  northern  and  eastern  plains  of  the  Crimea,  it  appears  to  have  possessed 
in  full  sovereignty  the  little  rocky  peninsula  on  which  it  stands,  and  which 
was  divided  from  the  territory  of  the  Chozares  by  a  strong  intrenchment 
from  Inkerman  to  Baluclava.     Against  this  position,  naturally  one  ol  the 

4  N  2 


644  HISTORY  OF  THE  COSSAKS. 


DIX. 


APPEN-  strongest  in  the  world,  the  Russian  art  of  war  could  avail  little  ;  but  a  trea- 
cherous monk  revealed  to  the  besiegers  the  place  whence  the  city  derived 
its  sole  supply  of  water  by  a  subterraneous  channel  from  the  neighbouring 
mountains ;  and,  this  intercepted,  Cherson  soon  surrendered.  Volodimir  was 
previously  in  possession  of  the  isle  of  Taman  and  the  peninsula  of  Kertch  ; 
and  this  conquest  appeared  to  secure  to  him  the  peaceable  possession  of 
the  whole  Crimea.  Elevated  by  his  success,  he  demanded  of  the  Greek 
emperor,  not  only  bishops  and  priests  to  instruct  and  baptize  him,  but  the 
princess  Anne,  the  sister  of  Basil,  as  his  wife.  The  marriage  and  the  bap- 
tism were  celebrated  together  within  his  conquest  of  Cherson  ;  and,  with  a 
singular  generosity,  the  new  convert,  Basil,  (for  such  was  the  name  which 
he  received  at  the  font,  though  history  still  continues  to  call  him  Volodimir,) 
restored  Cherson  to  his  brother-in-law,  and  contented  himself  with  carry- 
ing off  its  brazen  gates,  as  an  ornament  to  the  Church  which  he  designed 
to  build  in  Novogorod. 

VIII. — It  is  not,  however,  easy  to  discover  why,  if  Volodimir  had  so 
great  an  objection  to  ask  for  spiritual  instructors  from  the  Byzantine  em- 
peror, he  should  at  last  have  recourse  to  a  measure  which  he  had  taken 
such  pains  to  avoid  ;  and  at  a  time  when,  being  in  possession  of  more  than 
one  Grecian  city,  besides  Cherson,  he  had  abundance  both  of  bishops, 
priests,  and  monks,  among  Ms  own  subjects.  There  is  also  a  considerable 
doubt  as  to  the  town  which  was  the  scene  of  this  extraordinary  conversion. 
L'Evesque  makes  it  Caffa,  which  was,  however,  a  place  at  that  time  of  too 
much  insignificance  to  answer  the  description  given  of  it ;  and  Peyssonel  is 
of  opinion  that  it  was  Koslof.  The  brazen  gates  of  the  Church  of  St. 
Sophia  in  Novogorod,  which  were  long  shown  as  relics  of  this  expedition, 
are  now  ascertained  not  to  be  of  Greek,  but  of  German  workmanship,  and 
the  gift  of  the  Hanse  Towns  to  Novogorod  the  Great,  when  she  joined  their 
alliance.  On  the  whole,  I  am  inclined  to  doubt  the  fact  that  Volodimir  was 
ever  in  possession  either  of  Cherson  or  CafFa ;  and  to  suspect  that  his  expe- 
dition into  the  Crimea  was  against  the  Chozares,  not  the  Greeks,  and  in 
alliance  with  the  emperor  and  the  Chersonites ;  and  it  may  seem  further 
probable  that  the  hand  of  the  princess  Anne  was  the  price  paid  by  the  court 
of  Constantinople  to  anew  convert  and  a  useful  ally. 

IX. — Volodimir  celebrated  his  change  of  religion  by  various  absurd  but 
harmless  tokens  of  abhorrence  for  that  of  his  ancestors.  Peroun,  to  whom, 
a  few  years  before,  he  had  erected  splendid  temples  both  in  Novogorod 
and  Kief,  was  dragged  from  his  shrine,  beaten  with  clubs,  and  thrown  into 

10 


DIX. 


HISTORY  OF  THE  COSSAKS.  (J45 

the  Volchof  at  the  former  city,  and  into  the  Dnieper  at  the  latter.  But  appen- 
the  men  of  Novogorod,  who  had  not  received  with  equal  faith  the  new  re- 
ligion which  their  sovereign  recommended  to  them,  related  how,  after  their 
idol  had  been  sunk  in  the  stream,  it  rose  again  in  a  menacing  attitude,  and 
flinging  a  cudgel  on  the  shore,  exclaimed,  "  Ye  men  of  Novogorod,  I  leave 
you  this  in  token  of  remembrance."  In  consequence  of  this  curse,  it  was 
beheved  that  every  midsummer  eve,  the  day  on  which  Peroun  had  been 
worshipped,  the  youths  of  Novogorod  were  seized  with  a  temporary  mad- 
ness, and  ran  through  the  streets  with  cudgels  in  their  hands,  inflicting 
on  each  other,  and  on  all  passengers,  the  annual  vengeance  of  the  de- 
throned demon.  This  custom,  which,  as  L'Evesque  observes,  was  "  too 
foolish  not  to  continue  a  long  time  ',"  was  finally  suppressed  about  the  begin- 
ning of  the  last  century. 

X. — Volodimir  had,  before  his  conversion,  five  regular  wives  and 
no  less  than  eight  hundred  concubines ;  but,  on  his  marriage  with  the 
princess  Anne,  he  is  said  to  have  dismissed  them  all.  Among  them  was 
Rognieda,  daughter  of  Rogvold,  Prince  of  Pultusk,  a  Scandinavian  chieftain, 
who  had  estabUshed  himself  in  Livonia  about  the  same  time  that  Ruric  was 
invited  into  Russia.  Her  history  is  melancholy  and  interesting.  She  was 
renowned  for  her  beauty  all  over  the  North,  and  was  courted  by  the  two 
princes  of  Novogorod  and  Kief  at  the  same  time.  But  the  haughty 
damsel  recollected  that  Volodimir  was  only  the  natural  son  of  Sviatoslav, 
and  her  choice,  therefore,  fell  on  his  younger  brother,  Jaropolk.  "  It  shall 
not  be  said,"  in  allusion  to  a  marriage  ceremony  common  through  all  the 
north,  "  that  the  daughter  of  Rogvold  loosed  the  sandal  of  the  son  of  a 
slave."  Her  deteraiination  was  followed  by  the  invasion  of  Pultusk  by 
Volodimir,  by  the  death  of  her  father  in  battle,  and  by  the  murder,  as  we 
have  seen,  of  her  favom-ed  lover,  Jaropolk  :  and  she  was  herself  constrained 
to  become  the  queen  of  her  greatest  enemy.  Such  a  marriage  was  not 
likely  to  bring  happiness  ;  and  after  many  years,  as  Rognieda  was  in  bed, 
she  thought  over  all  the  injuries  she  had  received,  and  was  irresistibly 
tempted  to  revenge  them  on  the  tyrant  who  slept  by  her  side.  She  rose 
from  the  bed  to  search  for  her  husband's  dagger ;  the  noise  she  made 
awaked  him  ;  perceiving  her  attitude,  he  sprang  up,  wrested  the  weapon 
from  her  more  feeble  grasp,  and  was  about,  in  his  turn,  to  plunge  it  into 
her  bosom,  when  their  little  son,  who  slept  near  them,  stretched  out  his 
arms  and  uttered  a  piercing  cry.     The  chord  of  natural  feeling  was  touched 

'  L'Evesque,  torn.  i.  p.  173. 


646  HISTORY  OF  THE  COSSAKS. 

APPEN-    in  both  parents ;  Volodimir  threw  down  tlie  dagger,  and  both  together  ran 
"      to  embrace  their  innocent  offspring.     What  became  of  Rognieda  later  in 
Hfe  we  are  not  told  '. 

XI. — We  have  hitherto  seen  the  foul  and  bloody  side  of  Volodimir's 
character.  But  such  is  the  power  of  Christianity,  even  in  its  most  super- 
stitious and  corrupted  form,  that  this  wild  boar  of  the  wood  was  completely 
tamed  ;  and  by  the  subsequent  exertions  of  a  long  life  in  the  service  of 
his  people  and  the  masteiy  of  himself,  he  gave  the  best  possible  evidence 
that  his  repentance  and  conversion  were  sincere.  His  liberality  to  the 
poor  was  unbounded;  and  in  the  establishment  of  schools,  hospitals,  colonies, 
and  courts  of  justice,  he  displayed  a  talent  equal  to  his  zeal,  and  laid  the 
foundations  of  an  edifice  of  civilization  and  public  happiness  little  inferior 
to  the  institutions  of  our  own  great  Alfred,  and  which  might  have  brought 
forth  equal  fruits,  but  for  the  subsequent  invasion  of  the  Tartars.  His 
attachment  to  Christianity  was  ardent ;  but  we  have  no  reason  to  beh'eve 
that  he  ever  used  persecution  to  bring  over  his  subjects  to  his  own  way  of 
thinking.  It  is  probable  that  many  of  them  were,  like  other  barbarians, 
well-disposed  to  embrace  whatever  tenets  their  prince  and  nobles  might 
approve.  But  it  is  also  apparent  that  Christianity  had  been  for  several 
years  making  a  silent  progress  among  the  Russians,  and  that  the  king,  by 
his  conversion,  only  kept  pace  with  the  sentiments  of,  perhaps,  the  majority 
of  his  people.  The  immunities  and  privileges  which  he  granted  to  the 
clergy  may  at  first  appear  unreasonable.  But  such  grants  were  in  the 
style  of  the  age  ;  and  it  was  a  necessary  poHcy  of  Volodimir  to  avail  himself 
among  a  barbarous  people,  of  the  only  class  who  possessed  any  tincture  of 
knowledge ;  and  to  pay  even  an  extravagant  bounty  for  foreign  instructors 
and  missionaries.  The  same  enlarged  mind  was  shown  in  his  bridges,  his 
high-roads,  and  the  palaces  and  Churches  which  he  encouraged,  by  his  ex- 
ample, the  Russian  nobility  to  raise.  His  court  was  magnificent,  but  in  his 
own  person  he  was  rigidly  abstemious  and  frugal.  A  deep  shade  of 
melancholy  hung  over  him  at  all  times  from  the  recollection  of  his  brother's 
murder ;  and  he  never  gave  orders  for  the  execution  of  even  the  meanest 
malefactor  without  tears,  and  exclaiming,  "  Who  am  I,  that  I  should  con- 
demn another  ?"  Did  we  look  on  the  early  part  alone  of  this  man's  hfe, 
we  should  be  induced  to  place  the  pagan  Volodimir  among  the  greatest 
monsters  who  ever  defiled  a  throne.  If  we  behold  his  maturer  age,  we 
may  confess  that  Volodimir  the  Christian  was  hardly  unworthy  of  the  high 

'  Depping,  note  sur  L'Evesque,  torn.  i.  p.  161. 


HISTORY  OF  THE  COSSAKS.  047 

honours  which  his  country  has  ever  since  bestowed  on  his  memory,  or  the   appen- 
name  of  saint  with  which  the  Greek  Church  has  adorned  him.  =^^^= 

XII. — The  latter  years  of  Volodimir's  reign  were  agitated  both  by 
foreign  and  domestic  misfortune.  The  Patzinacitse  again  disturbed  him, 
and  defeated  him  in  a  great  battle,  in  which  the  old  prince  was  obliged  to 
hide  himself  from  his  pursuers  under  the  arch  of  one  of  his  own  bridges. 

His  sons,  amongst  whom,  by  the  same  fatal  policy  of  which  Sviatoslav 
had  been  guilty,  he  divided,  in  his  own  lifetime,  the  greater  part  of  his  terri- 
tories, made  war  on  each  other  and  on  their  father ;  and  the  death  of 
Volodimir  is  said  to  have  been  accelerated  by  grief,  while  he  was  on  his 
march  to  chastise  Jaroslav  of  Novogorod,  who,  after  a  long  and  bloody 
struggle  with  his  brethren,  succeeded,  at  length,  in  possessing  himself  of  the 
crown  of  Kief. 

XIII. — The  Patzinacitag,  din-ing  these  disturbances,  were  far  from  idle.  a.d.  1019. 
Sometimes  espousing  one  side,  sometimes  another,  they  contributed,  by 
constant  inroads,  to  weaken  whatever  Russian  prince  was  in  possession  of 
Kief ;  and  though  continually  defeated,  showed  plainly  that  it  was  no  easy 
task  to  crush  or  tame  them.  The  history  of  the  princes  of  Kief  is,  from 
this  time  forward,  of  very  Uttle  interest.  Jaroslav  made  an  unfortunate 
expedition  against  Constantinople,  in  which  his  fleet  was  almost  entirely 
destroyed  by  a  tempest,  and  by  the  Greek  fire  ;  and  the  sovereigns  of  Wes- 
tern Europe  appear,  at  this  epoch,  to  have  maintained  a  closer  intercourse 
with  the  princes  of  Russia  than  they  ever  did  in  after  ages,  till  the  time  of 
Peter  the  Great.  His  eldest  son,  Volodimir  of  Novogorod,  had  to  wife  the 
daughter  of  our  own  unfortunate  Harold.  His  third  son  married  a  Ger- 
man countess  of  Stadt ;  and  his  fourth,  a  daughter  of  the  Emperor  Con- 
stantine  Monomachus.  Of  his  three  daughters,  the  first  was  given  to  a 
king  of  Norway ;  the  second  to  Henry  the  First  of  France  ;  the  third  to 
Andrew,  king  of  Hungary.  Voltaire,  then,  (as  L'Evesque  with  justice  ob- 
serves) had  little  reason,  when  speaking  of  a  prince  thus  widely  connected, 
to  call  him  "  the  unknown  duke  of  an  undiscovered  Russia."  But  it  was 
enough  for  Voltaire,  that  the  turn  of  the  sentence  pleased  him  ;  of  the 
accuracy  of  the  assertion  he  was,  probably,  more  than  careless.  Notwith- 
standing the  assertion  of  Mr.  Pinkerton,  that  no  Slavonic  code  can  be 
found  before  the  sixteenth  century ',  Jaroslav  is  regarded  as  the  first  who 
published  a  written  code  of  laws  in  Russia ;  but  that  which  is  generally 

'  Geography,  Vol.  I.  p.  305. 


«48  HISTORY  OF  THE  COSSAKS. 

APPEN-  attributed  to  him  has  been  so  much  altered  by  subsequent  princes,  that  it 
'^'^'  is  difficult  to  distinguish  the  work  of  the  original  legislator.  L'Evesque 
has  given  a  short  account  of  the  leading  articles,  which  are  mild  and 
favourable  to  foreigners,  who  might  prove  their  claims  or  accusations 
against  a  Russian  by  a  smaller  number  of  witnesses  than  a  Russian  was 
required  to  produce.  The  judges,  as  in  England,  made  annual  circuits ; 
and  though  ordeal  was  not  forbidden,  it  could  only  be  undergone  by  the 
accuser  in  failure  of  other  proof;  a  law  which  might  have  its  use  in  pre- 
venting false  accusations.  The  punishment  of  murder,  as  in  all  uncivilized 
countries,  was  committed  to  the  kindred  of  the  murdered  person,  and  the 
tenour  of  the  law  seems  more  designed  to  correct  or  moderate  their 
unbridled  rage,  than  to  pursue  the  criminal  himself.  The  same  circum- 
stance may  be  observable  in  all  early  codes,  and  the  rights  of  sanctuary,  the 
rule  of  retaliation,  and  the  Gothic  custom  of  duel,  were  all  alike  calculated 
in  their  origin  to  curb  revenge  by  confining  it  within  certain  bounds,  or  per- 
mitting its  exercise  only  under  particular  circumstances.  But  though,  in 
Russia,  the  murderer  might  be  killed  by  the  kindred  of  the  deceased  during 
the  heat  of  blood,  no  other  person  had  a  right  to  take  such  vengeance  on 
him  ;  and  the  judge  was  contented  with  imposing  a  pecuniary  fine.  A  robber, 
if  found  in  the  fact,  might  be  killed  on  the  spot ;  but  if  taken  alive  was  to 
be  brought  to  the  judge  uninjured.  The  peasants  are  spoken  of  as  slaves. 
But  this  law  which  L'Evesque  relates  without  suspicion,  is  apparently  of  a 
far  more  recent  date  than  the  days  of  Jaroslav.  In  fact,  their  vassalage 
only  began  at  a  later  period  than  the  Tartar  invasion  ;  and  in  the  principaUty 
of  Kief  has  not  at  any  time  been  universal. 

XIV. — The  reign  of  Isiaslav,  or  Demetrius  the  first,  was  disturbed  in 
1054  by  an  irruption  of  the  Turks,  or  Chozares,  from  the  Cviban  ;  and 
when  these  invaders  were  repelled,  they  were  succeeded  by  the  still  more 
formidable  horde  of  the  Cumani,  who,  in  a  very  few  years,  extirpated  or 
subdued  the  Patzinacitte,  and  eventually  drove  the  Russians  from  all  the 
conquests  which  Sviatoslav  and  Volodimir  had  made  in  the  Crimea  and  on 
the  Don.  The  evil  days  of  Russia  were  now  coming  on,  and  her  warriors 
•  were  more  engaged  in  fighting  with  each  other,  and  in  pillaging  and 
massacring  the  Jews,  than  in  resisting  their  common  enemy,  who  had  now 
nearly  cut  them  off  from  all  communication  with  the  Euxine  and  Constan- 
tinople. By  the  easy  and  obvious  policy  of  fomenting  the  quarrels  between 
the  sovereigns  of  Novogorod  and  Kief,  the  Cumani  were  the  arbiters  and 
lords  of  Scythia  ;  and  this  wretched  strife  continued,  diversified  only  with 


HISTORY  OF  THE  COSSAKS.  649 

occasional  inroads  of  the  Lithuanian  Huns,  or  Chuni,  the  Poles,  who  were    appen- 
dix. 
now  rising  rapidly  in  power  and  estimation,  and  tlie  Hungarians,  till,  in  ■. 

the  year  1235,  these  minor  feuds  were  dismally  suspended  by  the  arrival 

of  a  new^  and  most  formidable  enemy. 

XV. — The  inhabitants  of  Central  Asia,  though  all  confounded  by  Des 
Guignes  under  the  sweeping  name  of  Huns,  are  composed,  in  fiict,  of  tiiree 
separate  races,  distinct  in  language  and  in  physiognomy.  The  Finns  in 
the  north  are  easily  known  by  their  yellow  hair  and  Em'opean  counte- 
nances. The  Cahnuks,  or  Monguls,  present,  at  the  present  day,  the  same 
pecuharities  which  the  ancients  ascribe  to  the  Huns ;  and  the  Tartars,  or 
Turks,  though  now  strongly  tinctured  with  Mongulian  blood,  must  have 
been  originally  very  different  fi'om  either,  and  have  approached  pretty 
closely  to  the  Persian  countenance.  So  long  as  these  remained  hostile  and 
independant,  Europe  and  the  other  civilized  countries  of  the  world  had  little 
to  fear  from  their  inroads.  But  the  Mongolians  under  Zinghis  Khan  and 
his  successors  had,  during  a  century  of  continual  conquests,  united  under 
their  own  broad  banner  the  whole  of  Tartary  and  China ;  and  now  ad- 
vanced, with  the  valour  and  ferocity  of  the  former,  and  the  arts  and  wealth 
of  the  latter,  against  the  miserable  and  jealous  governments  into  which  the 
empire  of  Jaroslav  was  divided.  Instead  of  the  naked  savages  who,  from 
the  same  quarter,  had  formerly  terrified  Europe,  the  Monguls  and  Tartars 
(for  though  the  former  were  the  dominant  race,  the  latter  were  the  most 
numerous)  were  cased  in  admirable  armour  of  steel,  and  well-seasoned 
hides ' ;  and  the  implicit  obedience  which  they  paid  to  their  sovereigns  ^ 
was  fatally  contrasted  with  the  feudal  misi-ule  of  the  people  with  whom  they 
were  to  contend.  And  they  w^ell  understood  how  to  make  the  best  use  of 
superior  numbers,  by  the  system  of  successive  retreats  and  reinforcements 
of  unbroken  squadrons.  To  these  military  talents  were  added,  if  we  believe 
the  European  chronicles,  a  perfidy  and  cruelty  which,  as  it  proved  that  no- 
thing was  to  be  expected  from  their  forbearance  as  conquerors,  ought  to 
have  inspired,  at  least,  a  valiant  desperation  in  those  whose  native  soil  they 
came  to  invade. 

XVI. — Instead,  however,  of  rousing  the  inhabitants  of  Europe  to  re- 
sistance, their  amval,  thus  unexpected  and  thus  formidable,  appears  to  have 
struck  a  panic  wherever  they  passed,  which  deprived  their  victims  not  only 

'  Dlugossi.  Hist.  Pol.  p.  679,  edit.  Francofurt.     Bonfinius,  Hist.  Hungar.  viii.  289. 
*  Des  Guignes,  vol.  iii.  p.  7.     Bonfinius,  ubi  supra. 
VOL.  I.  4    O 


G50  HISTORY  OF  THE  COSSAKS. 

APPEN-  of  hope,  but  of  courage.  The  Chozares  and  other  Turkish  tribes  on  the 
°^"^'  frontiers  of  Europe,  either  svmk  into  slavery  without  a  struggle,  or  were 
content  to  swell  with  their  nvunbers  and  valour  the  train  of  their  invaders. 
Jury,  or  George,  prince  of  Moscow,  died  bravely  fighting  in  battle  ;  but  his 
city  surrendered  on  a  capitulation  which  not  even  the  citizens  themselves 
expected  to  be  observed,  and  which  was,  in  fact,  immediately  followed  by  a 
massacre  of  all  who  were  either  formidable  or  worthless  to  the  enemy,  the 
young  men  and  the  aged  of  either  sex.  Michael,  prince  of  Kief,  having 
put  to  death  a  Tartar  chieftain  whom  Batu  (the  general  under  Octal  Khan) 
had  sent  to  reconnoitre  his  fortress,  saw  no  hope  of  safety  from  the  ven- 
geance which  he  had  thus  incurred,  but  in  immediate  flight  to  Hungary  ; 
and  the  same  kingdom  afforded  a  short  and  unquiet  refuge  to  Cuten,  king 
of  the  Cumani,  at  the  head  of  40,000  horsemen  of  his  tribe,  and  an  infinite 
number  of  women,  children,  and  bondsmen.  To  the  same  asylum  fled  Bo- 
leslav  the  Chaste,  duke  of  Cracof,  with  his  wife,  his  mother,  and  a  numerous 
body  of  clergy.  But  Bela,  king  of  Hungary,  far  from  protecting  other 
crowns,  was  ill  able  to  defend  his  own ;  and  Batu,  after  ravaging  Moravia 
before  the  eyes  of  King  Venceslas  of  Bohemia,  (who  wisely  contented  him- 
self with  observing  his  motions  from  the  mountains,)  entered  Hungary,  if 
we  believe  Bonfinius,  mth  an  army  of  500,000  horse '.  Yet  a  sufficient 
number  remained  in  Poland  to  annihilate  the  united  force  of  that  kingdom, 
of  Silesia,  and  of  Russia,  under  the  command  of  Henry,  duke  of  Viatislav, 
and  the  Grand  Master  of  the  Teutonic  Order,  Pompo  de  Holstern  ^  Henry 
fell,  bravely  fighting  in  the  midst  of  his  enemies;  and  such  was  the  slaugh- 
ter, that  when  the  Tartars,  according  to  their  custom,  cut  off"  one  ear  from 
each  dead  body,  they  filled  nine  water-skins  with  these  bloody  trophies. 

XVH. — The  Christians  consoled  their  national  pride  under  this  defeat 
by  ascribing  it  to  the  well-known  magic  of  the  heathen  :  and  a  circumstance 
is  related  which,  if  true,  afforded,  in  those  days,  no  unreasonable  ground 
for  the  suspicion  \  The  Mongulians  had,  it  seems,  among  their  standards, 
one  very  large  and  terrible  banner,  inscribed  with  a  symbol  resembling  St. 

'  Bonfinius,  p.  293. 

^  I  have  introduced  the  Teutonic  knights  in  this  battle  on  the  authority  of  Duglossi, 
(p.  675,)  though  their  presence  is  not  mentioned  in  Herman  Corner's  Chronicon,  published  in 
Eckhard's  Corp.  Hist.  Med.  CEvi.  (tom.  2.)  nor  in  Raymond  Duellius'  Historia  Ord.  Equit. 
Teuton ;  though  this  last,  as  being  an  avowed  panegyric,  would  hardly  omit  any  instance  of 
their  merit  and  sufferings. 

'  Duglossi,  679. 


HISTORY  OF  THE  COSSAKS.  651 

Andrew's  cross ;  its  staff  was  simnounted  by  the  imaofe  of  a  fierce  and    appen- 

DIX 

swarthy  head,  with  a  long  beard.  The  Tartars  had  ah-eady  retreated  a  === 
furlong  from  the  impetuous  charge  of  Duke  Henry ;  and  their  retreat  was, 
by  degrees,  changing  into  a  flight,  when  the  bearer  of  this  fatal  ensign 
began  to  shake  and  brandish  it  violently.  Immediately  a  thick  and  poison- 
ous smoke  exhaled  from  that  fiendish  visage  ;  and  as  it  spread  Hke  a  cloud 
over  the  whole  Polish  army,  every  man  felt  his  heart  die  within  him.  The 
Tartars  returned  to  the  charge  with  horrible  yells,  and  the  issue  of  the 
combat  was  no  longer  doubtfid  '.  This  story  might  be  invented  to  extenu-  ad.  12-42. 
ate  the  failure  of  the  defeated  army  ;  and  it  has  every  appearance,  it  must 
be  owned,  of  being  copied  from  the  "  Dragon  Standard"  of  Merlin  in  the 
old  romances.  Yet  the  empire  of  the  Monguls  in  China  renders  it  not 
impossible  that  some  species  of  fire-works  was  known  to  them,  which, 
exaggerated  by  fear  and  ignorance,  might  easily  give  rise  to  such  a  descrip- 
tion, 

XVIII. — On  the  other  side,  the  arms  of  Batu  were  crowned  with 
equal  success  in  Hungary.  The  Palatine  opposed  some  hasty  levies  which 
were  crushed  without  difiiculty : — the  Cumani  who,  though  at  first 
hospitably  received,  soon  experienced  the  bitterness  of  dependance,  went 
over  in  a  body  to  the  division  of  Sudai  Bahadour ;  and  Cadau,  or  Coucton, 
another  of  Batu's  lieutenants  ^,  was  joined  by  the  Count  Aristold  and  600 
German  mercenaries,  who  formed  the  garrison  of  Rudana,  and  who  selong 
pikes,  heavy  armour,  and  cross-bows,  supplied  the  only  species  of  force  in 
which  the  Mongolian  army  was  defective.  Other  troops  of  the  same  nation 
are  accused  of  resorting  to  their  standard  from  the  wreck  of  the  Silesian 
and  Russian  army ;  and  thus  reinforced  they  pressed  still  closer  on  King 
Bela,  who,  being  forced  by  the  cries  of  his  subjects  to  sally  from  Pesth, 
was  defeated  and  chased  by  the  indefatigable  Cadan,  till  he  took  refuge  in 
the  islands  of  the  Adriatic.  Except  a  few  fortified  places,  all  Hungary, 
Poland,  and  the  north  of  Turkey  were  overrun  without  further  opposition. 
Tlie  barbarians  were  now  on  the  frontier  of  Germany.  The  Emperor 
Frederic  had  sent  importunate  letters  to  all  the  sovereigns  of  Western 
Europe,  imploring  aid  against  the  common  danger ;  and  St.  Louis,  the  king 

'  Duglossi  does  not  say  that  any  wounds  were  inflicted  by  this  engine ;  and  it  is  possible 
that  tlie  intention  of  the  smoke  thus  raised  was  only  to  serve  as  a  signal  to  the  whole  Mongo- 
lian army  to  return  to  the  charge  from  their  pretended  flight,  tliough  it  liad  the  additional  ad- 
vantage of  striking  terrour  into  their  Christian  adversaries. 

=  Bonfinius,  29i. 

4  O    2  . 


652  HISTORY  OF  THE  COSSAKS. 

APPEN-  of  France,  was  levying  an  army,  in  doubt  whether  it  would  be  employed 
"  for  the  defence  of  his  neighbour's  territory  or  of  his  own,  when  in  the  midst 
of  these  universal  and  natural  apprehensions,  like  a  wave  which  had  spent 
itself  on  the  open  beach,  the  mighty  army  of  Batu  glided  back  silently  and 
unpursued  to  the  deserts  whence  it  had  issued,  loaded  with  the  wealth,  the 
strength,  and  the  beauty  of  the  west,  and  leaving  behind  it,  the  blood,  and 
groans,  and  tears  of  Hungary,  and  Poland,  and  Russia '. 

XIX. — To  the  plains  of  Scythia,  however,  the  invaders  did  not  bid  a 
similar  adieu ;  the  blended  hordes  of  the  Monguls  and  Tartars  still  pitched 
their  tents,  and  pastured  their  herds  among  the  sepulchres  of  the  Scoloti ; 
and  Europe  for  the  first  time  saw  camels  grazing  in  her  meadows.  And 
though  the  latter  years  of  Oktar  Khan  were  too  much  engrossed  with 
Asiatic  conquests  to  leave  him  time  to  vex  Europe  any  further,  yet  Gaiouk, 
his  successor,  to  whom  the  Dominicans,  Plan  Carpin  and  Benedict,  were 
sent  by  Pope  Innocent  the  Fourth,  (though  not  unfavourable  to  the 
Christian  clergy  who  visited  his  court)  was  fully  bent  on  subjugating 
all  the  west,  of  the  value  and  beauty  of  which  he  had  formed  a  high 
opinion  during  the  campaign  of  Batu  in  Hungary.  He  had  made  pre- 
parations for  a  new  expedition  of  eighteen  years  into  Europe  ;  and  out  of 
every  ten  men  able  to  bear  arms,  had  ordered  a  conscription  of  three  ; 
which,  if  canned  into  effect  throughout  his  dominions,  must  have  surpassed 
even  the  wildest  stories  which  are  told  respecting  the  army  of  Xerxes. 
But  Providence  kept  back  a  storm  which  must  have  ruined  Christendom, 
by  the  death   of  Gaiouk  Khan  himself,  who  was  meditating  death  to   so 

A.D.  1248.  many  millions  of  his  fellow-creatures.  A  female  regency  and  disputed 
succession  followed  ;  a  dreadful  drought  and  famine  consumed  the  stores  of 
the  regular  troops,  and  obliged  the  Tartar  hordes  who  were  already 
collected  to  disperse ;  and  Mangou  Khan,  to  whom  Rubruquis  was  sent, 
was  more  disposed  to  extend  his  empire  on  the  side  of  China  and  Persia, 
than  to  make  war  with  the  western  Churches.  The  miserable  Dominicans, 
whom  the  King  of  France  and  the  Pope  selected  as  ambassadors,  were, 
indeed,  but  little  quaUfied  to  give  a  warlike  race  of  barbarians  any  exalted 
opinion  of  the  power  or  wisdom  of  the  Franks ;  but  it  is  possible  that  their 
poverty  was  not  ill  calculated  to  disarm  the  cupidity  or  ambition  of  those 
to  whom  they  were  sent ;  and  to  Rubruquis,  the  envoy  of  St.  Louis,  we  are 
indebted  for  the  best  and  fullest  accovmt  which  we  possess  of  the  Mongul 
empire  and  the  state  of  Scythia  in  the  13th  century. 

'   Bonfinius,  p.  301. 


HISTORY  OF  THE  COSSAKS.  (553 

XX. — The  Chosares,  or  Chazares,  had  long  since  disappeared  from    appen- 


Europe ;  but  the  Crimea,  which  Rubruquis  describes  as  of  a  triangular  = 
shape,  still  bore  the  name  of  Chazaria,  having  "  Chersova"  (Cherson)  to 
the  west,  and  "  Soldaia"  (Soudak)  on  its  southern  coast,  and  opposite  to 
Sinope.  Both  were  places  of  considerable  trade,  and  the  first  was  remark- 
able as  being  the  scene  of  the  martyrdom  of  St.  Clement,  bishop  of  An- 
cyra.  Passing  by  this  city,  Rubruquis  had  a  view,  he  tells  us,  of  an  island, 
on  which  was  a  Church  built  by  angels.  Is  this  the  present  monastery  of 
St.  George,  whose  lofty  situation  may,  from  the  sea,  appear  insulated  ?  or  is 
there  any  trace  in  this  tradition  of  the  marvellovis  stories  current  among 
the  ancient  heathens,  respecting  the  island  and  shrine  of  Achilles  ?  East  of 
the  Crimea,  and  at  the  mouth  of  the  river  Tanais,  by  which  he  understands, 
apparently,  the  Bosphorus,  was  the  city  of  Matriga,  by  which  he  means 
Tamatarcha,  or  Tmutaracan,  a  place  also  of  great  trade  for  sturgeon  and 
other  kinds  of  dried  fish,  the  produce  of  the  Tanais.  This  mighty  river, 
he  observes,  makes  of  itself  a  kind  of  sea,  (the  Palus  Mfeotis,)  seven  hun- 
dred leagues  in  extent,  before  it  falls  into  the  Sea  of  Pontus ;  but  it  is  too 
shallow  for  vessels  of  burthen,  and  the  merchants  of  Constantinople  send 
up  smaller  barks  from  Matriga  into  the  interior.  CafTa,  or  Theodosia,  though, 
both  before  and  after  his  time,  a  place  of  considerable  importance,  he  passes 
over  in  silence.  Zicchia,  at  the  foot  of  Caucasus,  still  retained  its  ancient 
name ;  and  between  Cherson  and  Soudak  were  no  less  than  forty  castles,  or  for- 
tified villages,  in  almost  every  one  of  which  a  different  language  was  spoken ; 
and  some  were  inhabited  by  Goths,  who  spoke  the  German  tongue.  He 
describes  the  mountainous  coast  and  the  beautifully-wooded  country  which 
occupies  the  south  of  the  Crimea ;  the  vast  green  desert  extending  thence 
to  the  isthmus  of  Perekop  ;  the  salt-pools  ;  the  commerce  which  has  always 
been  carried  on  in  that  article  between  the  Russians  and  Tartars,  and  which, 
in  those  days,  produced  an  ample  revenue  of  linen  cloths  and  gold  to  the 
Mongul  chieftains,  Batou,  and  Sartach.  The  price,  or  duty,  on  each  cart- 
load were  "  two  webs  of  cloth,  to  the  value  of  half  an  yperpera ;"  and  there 
were  also  many  ships  which  resorted  to  the  coast  for  the  same  commodity, 
and  paid  a  duty  according  to  their  tonnage.  A  more  burdensome  impost 
of  an  axe  and  a  certain  quantity  of  corn  was  paid  to  the  conquerors  from 
every  house  throughout  their  dominions  ;  and  the  Mongulian  chieftains  had 
most  of  them  farms  cultivated  by  Russian  peasants,  for  the  maintenance  or 
luxury  of  their  vast  numbers  of  domestics  and  concubines.  Before  the  arrival 
of  the  Tartars,  the  open  plain  which  he  was  now  traversing  belonged,  he  tells 


DIX. 


65i  HISTORY  OF  THE  COSSAKS. 

APPEN-  US,  to  the  Cumani,  "  who  compelled  the  above-mentioned  cities  and  castles 
^^^'  to  pay  tribute  to  them."  But  when  the  Tartars  came  upon  them,  the  Cu- 
mani fled,  all  of  them,  to  the  sea-shore,  being  in  such  extreme  femine,  that 
they  who  were  alive  were  compelled  to  eat  up  them  which  were  dead. 
"  And  as  a  merchant,"  says  Rubruquis,  "  reported  to  me,  who  saw  it  with  his 
own  eyes,  living  men  devoured  and  tore  with  their  teeth  the  raw  flesh  of 
the  dead,  as  dogs  would  gnaw  carrion."  Of  the  Tartars  themselves,  he 
gives  a  lively  and  famihar  picture.  The  manners  of  a  wandering  race  are 
susceptible  of  little  change  ;  and  their  domestic  habits  were  almost  the  same 
in  the  time  of  Rubruquis  as  in  that  of  Herodotus,  or  as  at  the  present  day. 
In  point  of  wealth,  however,  and  of  splendour,  the  Mongulian  conquerors  of 
the  east  and  west  exceeded,  as  may  well.be  supposed,  in  an  infinite  degree, 
the  ancient  or  modern  wanderers  of  the  north  of  Asia ;  nor  do  I  know  a 
more  gorgeous  description  of  a  noniade  life,  than  that  which  is  given  by 
Rubruquis  of  the  moving  palaces  of  these  warlike  and  lordly  shepherds. 

XXI. — "  They  have  no  settled  habitation,"  are  his  words,  "  neither 
know  they  where  they  shall  rest  to-morrow.  They  have  all  Scythia  to 
themselves,  which  stretcheth  from  the  river  Danube  to  the  furthest  extent 
of  the  east.  Each  of  their  captains,  according  to  the  number  of  his  people, 
knoweth  the  bounds  of  his  pasture,  and  where  he  ought  to  feed  his  cattle, 
winter  and  summer,  spring  and  autumn  ;  for  they  remove  in  the  winter  to 
warm  and  southern  regions,  and  in  the  summer  they  go  northward  into  the 
cold.  In  winter  when  snow  lies  on  the  ground,  they  feed  their  cattle  in 
the  pasture  where  there  is  no  water,  because  they  then  use  snow  for  drink. 
Their  houses,  wherein  they  sleep,  they  raise  on  a  round  foundation  of 
wickers,  artificially  wrought  and  compacted ;  the  roofs  consisting  also  of 
wickers,  meeting  above  in  one  little  roundel,  out  of  which  there  rises  up- 
wards a  neck  like  a  chimney,  which  they  cover  with  white  felt ;  and  often 
they  lay  mortar  and  white  earth  on  the  felt,  wth  the  powder  of  bones,  that 
it  may  shine  and  look  white.  Sometimes,  also,  they  cover  their  houses  with 
black  felt '.  This  roof  of  their  house  they  adorn  with  a  variety  of  pictures. 
Before  the  door  they  hang  a  piece  of  felt  curiously  painted,  for  they  spend 

'  The  distinction  between  the  black  and  white  felt  has  since  become  national,  and  has 
been  frequently  the  badge  of  factious  animosity.  The  Kirghees,  at  present,  have  white  tents  ; 
the  Calmuks  and  Nogays  have  them,  for  the  most  part,  black.  The  paintings  and  ornaments 
described  by  Rubruquis  have,  in  modern  times,  greatly  degenerated.  They  still,  however,  have 
often  a  flag  covered  with  symbolical  painting,  or  an  inscription,  designating  their  tribe,  or  com- 
prising some  religious  saying  or  verse. 

7 


HISTORY  OF  THE  COSSAKS.  655 

all  their  coloured  felt  in  painting  vines,  trees,  birds,  and  beasts  thereupon,    appen- 
These  houses  they  make  so  large,  that  they  contain  thirty  feet  in  breadth  ;  ' 

for  measuring  once  the  breadth  between  the  wheel-ruts  of  one  of  their  carts 
or  wains,  1  found  it  to  be  twenty  feet  over ;  and  when  the  house  was  upon 
the  cart,  it  stretched  over  the  wheels,  on  each  side,  five  feet  at  the  least.  I 
told  two-and-twenty  oxen  in  one  draught,  eleven  in  one  row,  according  to 
the  breadth  of  the  cart,  and  eleven  in  the  other.  The  axletree  of  the  cart 
was  of  huge  bigness,  like  the  mast  of  a  ship  ;  and  a  man  stood  in  the  door- 
way of  the  house,  on  the  forestall  of  the  cart,  to  drive  the  oxen.  They 
make  also  certain  square  baskets  of  slender  twigs,  as  big  as  gi-eat  chests, 
and  afterwards,  from  one  side  to  another,  they  frame  a  hollow  lid  of  the 
like  twigs,  and  make  a  door  in  the  front  of  the  chest.  Then  they  cover 
the  said  chest,  or  house,  with  the  black  felt,  rubbed  over  with  tallow  or 
sheep's  milk,  to  keep  the  rain  from  soaking  through,  which  they  likewise 
adorn  with  painting  and  white  feathers.  Into  these  chests  they  put  their 
wliole  household  stuff,  or  treasure,  and  bind  them  on  other  carts,  which  are 
drawn  by  camels,  that  so  they  may  pass  through  rivers ;  neither  do  they 
ever  take  down  these  chests  from  their  carts.  When  they  take  down  their 
dwelling-houses,  they  turn  their  door  always  to  the  south ;  and  next  they 
place  the  carts,  laden  with  the  chests,  here  and  there,  within  a  stone's  cast 
of  the  house ;  insomuch,  that  the  house  standeth  between  two  ranks  of 
carts,  as  if  it  were  between  two  walls.  The  women  make  themselves  most 
beautiful  carts,  which  I  am  not  able,"  continues  the  missionary,  "  to  describe 
to  your  majesty  but  by  pictures  only.  I  would  willingly  have  painted  all 
things  for  you,  had  my  skill  in  that  art  been  great  enough.  A  inch  Tartar 
hath  a  hundred  or  more  such  carts,  with  chests.  Baatu  (Batu)  hath  six- 
teen wives,  every  one  of  whom  hath  one  great  house,  besides  other  smaller 
houses,  which  they  place  behind  the  great  one,  being,  as  it  were,  chambers 
for  their  women  to  dwell  in ;  and  to  each  of  the  houses  belong  two  hun- 
di-ed  carts.  When  they  take  their  houses  off  the  carts,  the  principal  wife 
placeth  her  court  on  the  west,  and  so  all  the  rest  in  order,  so  that  the  last 
wife's  house  is  on  the  east  frontier ;  and  the  court  of  each  wife  is  distant 
from  her  neighbour  about  a  stone's  throw.  Hence  it  is  that  the  court  of  a 
rich  Tartar  will  appear  like  a  very  large  village,  few  men  being  to  be  seen 
therein.  One  woman  w411  guide  twenty  or  thirty  carts  at  once,  for  their 
country  is  very  flat ;  and  they  fasten  the  carts,  with  camels  or  oxen,  one 
behind  the  other.     A  woman  sits  in  the  foremost  cart  driving  the  oxen. 


636  HISTORY  OF  THE  COSSAKS. 

APPEN-    and  all  the  rest  follow  of  themselves  the  same  pace.     When  they  come  to 
.  a  place  which  is  difficult  of  passage,  they  loose  them,  and  guide  them,  one 

by  one,  for  they  go  a  slow  pace,  and  not  faster  than  an  ox  can  walk." 

XXII. — ■"  When  they  have  taken  down  their  houses  from  the  carts, 
and  turned  the  doors  southward,  they  place  the  bed  of  the  master  of  the 
house  at  the  north  part  thereof,  and  the  place  of  the  women  is  on  the  east, 
so  that  they  are  on  the  left  hand  of  the  master  when  sitting  on  his  bed 
with  his  face  to  the  south  ;  but  the  men's  place  is  to  the  west,  that  is,  to 
the  right  of  their  master.  Men,  when  they  enter  into  the  house,  never 
hang  their  quivers  on  the  women's  side.  Over  the  master's  head  there  is 
an  image  made  of  felt,  which  they  call  the  master's  brother  ;  and  another, 
fastened  to  the  wall  over  the  head  of  the  mistress,  which  they  call  her 
brother  ;  and  a  bow  hangs  between  them,  besides  a  little  lean  idol,  which 
is,  as  it  were,  the  guardian  of  the  whole  house.  The  mistress  places  at  the 
foot  of  her  bed,  on  the  right  hand,  the  skin  of  a  kid,  stuffed  with  wool,  and 
near  it  a  little  image  looking  to  the  apartments  of  the  women  ;  next  the 
door,  on  the  women's  side,  is  another  image  with  a  cow's  udder,  which  is 
the  guardian  of  those  who  milk  the  cattle,  for  that  is  the  constant  employ- 
ment of  the  women.  On  the  other  side  of  the  door,  next  the  men,  is  another 
image  with  the  udder  of  a  mare,  as  the  guardian  of  those  who  milk  the 
mares.  When  they  meet  to  make  merry,  they  sprinkle  part  of  their  drink 
upon  the  image  which  is  over  the  master's  head  ;  and  afterwards  on  the 
other  images  in  order ;  then  a  servant  goes  about  the  house  with  a  cup 
full  of  drink,  sprinkling  it  thrice  towards  the  south,  and  bowing  his  knee 
every  time ;  and  this  is  done  in  honour  of  the  fire.  He  performs  the  same 
ceremony  to  the  east,  in  honour  of  the  air ;  then  to  the  west,  in  honour  of 
the  water  ;  and,  lastly,  to  the  north,  in  honour  of  the  dead.  When  the 
master  holds  a  cup  in  his  hand  to  drink,  before  he  tastes,  he  pours  a  part 
upon  the  ground.  If  he  drinks  sitting  on  horseback,  he  pours  out  part  on 
the  neck  of  the  horse  before  he  drinks.  After  the  servant  has  paid  his 
reverence  to  the  four  quarters  of  the  world,  he  returns  into  the  house,  and 
two  other  servants  stand  ready  with  their  cups  and  two  basons  to  carry 
drink  to  the  master  and  his  wife,  who  sit  together  on  a  bed.  If  the  master 
has  more  wives  than  one,  she,  with  whom  he  lay  the  night  before,  sits  by 
his  side  that  day,  and  all  the  other  wives  resort  to  her  house  to  drink,  and 
there  the  court  is  for  that  day  ;  the  gifts,  also,  which  are  presented  that  day, 
(from  strangers  or  vassals)  are    laid  up  in  the  chests  of  that  wife.     One 


HISTORY  OF  THE  COSSAKS.  657 

piece  of  ceremony  is  constant  in  all  houses :  there  is  a  bench  on  which   appex- 
stands  a  vessel  of  milk,  or  of  other  drink,  and  cups  for  drinking  it '.     They  " 

make  in  winter  an  excellent  drink  of  rice  and  honey ;  strong,  well-tasted, 
and  high-coloured,  like  wine ;  they  have  also  wine  brought  to  them  from 
other  countries.  In  the  summer  time  they  care  not  for  any  drink  but 
kosmos  (koumiss.)  This  hquor  is  placed  always  at  the  entrance  of  the 
door,  and  beside  it  sits  a  minstrel.  I  saw  there  no  such  violins  as  ours, 
but  many  other  musical  instruments  which  are  not  in  use  among  us.  When 
tlie  master  of  the  house  begins  to  drink,  one  of  his  servants  crieth  out  with 
a  loud  voice,  '  Ha !'  and  the  minstrel  thereupon  begins  to  play." 

XXIII. — Rubruquis  gives  a  very  accurate  account  of  the  manner  of 
fermenting  koumiss,  which  he  describes  as  "  sharp  on  the  tongue,  like 
raspberry  wine,"  but  as  leaving  a  taste  behind  it  like  almond  emulsion.  To 
make  this  and  the  kara-koumiss,  which  was  a  more  valuable  species,  the 
subjects  and  vassals  of  each  Tartar  lord  contributed  their  mares'  milk 
every  third  day.  Their  butter,  he  observes,  was  preserved  by  boiling,  with- 
out salt ;  and  sour  curd,  beaten  up  with  water,  supplied  the  place  of  milk 
in  winter.  He  mentions  the  sogur  (suslik)  as  a  common  dainty  among 
them,  and  calls  the  jerboa  (mus  jaculus)  "  a  sort  of  rabbit  with  long  tails, 
tlie  outside  hair  of  which  is  white  and  black."  He  falls  into  the  same 
errour  with  Strabo,  in  mistaking  the  wild  horse  for  a  species  of  ass  ;  and 
notices  the  wild  Tartarian  sheep  with  ponderous  horns,  which  were  often 
made  into  drinking-cups.  Falconry,  a  sport  unknown  to  the  Greeks  and 
Romans,  and  originally  introduced  into  Europe  from  the  east,  was  a  favorite 

•  Besides  the  skin  of  koumiss,  tlie  Calmuks  have,  at  present,  a  small  board,  on  which 
are  a  few  cups  of  some  liquor,  whicli  I  took  to  be  tea,  and  which  seemed  to  be  an  offering  to 
their  principal  idol.  The  rice  drink  spoken  of  by  Rubruquis  they  got  from  China,  where  it  is 
usually  drunken  at  this  day.  (See  Journal  of  an  embassy  to  China,  INIacartney's  Works, 
vol.  ii.  p.  260.)  The  description  of  Rubruquis  applies,  it  should  be  observed,  more  especially 
to  the  Mongul  nobles,  not  to  their  Tartar  subjects.  He  makes  no  mention  of  tea,  which  is 
now  a  very  common  beverage  among  all  the  Mongulian  and  Calmuk  tribes.  Nor  does  Marco 
Polo,  who  was  actually  in  China,  notice  it,  which  he  could  hardly  have  avoided  doing  if  it  were 
in  so  common  use  in  his  time  as  it  is  at  present.  It  may  be  curious  to  enquire  at  what  time  it 
became  an  article  of  universal  and  daily  luxury.  Tea  is  mentioned  by  the  Mahomedan  tra- 
veller, the  date  of  whose  journey,  which  was  published  by  Renandot  in  1718,  is  generally 
referred  to  the  ninth  century.  (Harris's  Collection,  vol.  I.  p.  527.)  But  the  manner  in 
which  this  Mahomedan  speaks  of  it  is  rather  as  a  medicine  than  as  a  daily  drink.  It  is  singu- 
lar that  Rubruquis  describes  their  wine  as  brought  from  foreign  countries.  What  had  become 
of  tlie  numerous  vineyards  of  the  Crimea  ?  Was  their  produce  neglected  by  the  Monguls  as  of 
a  bad  and  hungry  quality  ?  or  had  they  been  rooted  up  in  the  destructive  progress  of  conquest? 
VOL.    I.  4    P 


(558  HISTORY  OF  THE  COSSAKS. 

APPEN-  and  profitable  amusement  of  the  Monguls,  who  derived  from  it  no  trifling 
1^  part  of  their  subsistence.  Their  great  men  generally  affected  to  carry  a 
hawk  on  the  wrist ;  and  when  Rubruquis  was  introduced  to  Mangu  Khan, 
the  Mongul  sovereign  continued  playing  with  his  feathered  favourites,  of 
which  one  was  brought  after  another  into  his  presence,  for  a  long  time  be- 
fore he  took  any  notice  of  the  ambassadors.  Their  women  wore  a  botta, 
or  high  conical  head-dress  of  wood,  which  rose  two  French  feet  above  the 
head.  Something  like  this,  though  of  less  portentous  altitude,  is  still 
worn  by  the  Tcheremissi  and  the  Russians  in  the  province  of  Kostroma. 
"  When  a  great  company  of  these  ladies  ride  together,  they  seem,  at  a  dis- 
tance, hke  a  party  of  soldiers,  with  helmets  on  their  heads,  carrying  their 
lances  upright ;  for  the  botta  appears  like  a  helmet  with  a  lance  above  it." 
The  Mongulian  females  were  hardy,  corpulent  and  flat-nosed  ;  so  much  so, 
that  the  honest  friar  fancied  that  the  wife  of  Zagatai,  the  first  great  man 
whom  they  saw,  had  "  pared  her  nose  between  the  eyes  on  purpose,  and 
anointed  the  scar,  as  well  as  her  eye-brows,  with  black  ointment,"  The 
latter  custom  is  at  this  day  common  in  many  countries  of  the  east.  In  their 
habits  they  were  disgustingly  dirty,  never  washing  their  garments,  dishes, 
or  bowls,  and  daubing  their  faces  with  grease  most  frightfully.  When  they 
washed  their  hands  and  face,  they  were  contented  to  fill  the  mouth  with 
water,  which  they  spirted  on  their  hands,  and  thus  rubbed  their  faces  and 
heads  with  it.  The  usual  manner  of  washing  at  this  day  in  Russia  is  sim- 
ply to  pour  water  over  their  hands ;  to  dip  the  hand  into  a  bason  being 
regarded  as  slovenly  and  ill-mannered.  The  Mongulians  abstained  from 
washing  their  garments  and  platters  from  a  superstitious  motive,  and  used 
to  beat  such  as  washed  any  thing  in  their  presence,  "  because,"  they  said, "  if 
washed  gannents  were  hung  out  to  dry,  the  gods  would  become  angry,  and 
dreadful  thunder  would  ensue '."  They  were  terribly  afraid  of  thunder 
and  witches.  When  a  great  man  was  sick,  no  stranger  was  allowed  to 
approach  within  a  certain  distance  of  his  tent,  lest  witches  or  evil  spirits 
should  enter  with  him.  Their  soothsayers  practised  many  spells  to  coun- 
teract the  malicious  witchcrafts  of  others  ;  and  there  were  many  impurities 
which,  according  to  their  notion,  were  only  to  be  cleansed  or  secured  against 
danger,  by  passing  the  infected  person  or  garment  between  two  fires ;  a 
well-known  custom  of  the  Magi,  which  we  should  hardly  expect  to  find  so 
far  north.     The  drum  or  timbrel,  a  usual  instrument  of  divination  through 

'  This  was  an  ordinance  of  Zinghin  Khan. — Des  Guignes,  torn.  iii.  p.  73. 


HISTORY  OF  THE  COSSAKS.  659 

all  the  north,  from  Lapland  to  Kamtsohatka,  was  much  used  by  their  sorce-   appen- 

DIX 

resses ;  and  when  any  person  of  rank  died  suddenly,  it  was  usual  to  ascribe  ' 

the  accident  to  magic,  and  many  miserable  creatures  were  tortured  on  this 
suspicion.  On  the  ninth  of  May  was  a  gi-eat  festival,  in  which  all  the 
mares  of  their  herds,  and  particulai'ly  those  of  a  white  colour,  were  brought 
together  to  be  blessed  by  their  magicians  ;  and,  on  this  occasion,  the 
Mahomedan  moullahs  and  the  Nestorian  monks  were  also  obliged  to 
attend. 

The  Christians  among  them  were  Alani,  Nestorians,  and  Russians,  all 
very  ignorant,  complying,  without  scruple,  with  the  idolatrous  and  magical 
ceremonies  of  their  masters,  and  placing  almost  the  whole  of  religion  in  an 
abstinence  fi-om  mares'  milk  and  koumiss ;  which  scruple  of  theirs  was 
what  mainly  kept  the  Tartars,  who  were  lovers  of  koumiss,  from,  at  least, 
nominally  embracing  their  faith.  On  what  ground  they  considered  mares' 
milk  to  be  unlawful  diet,  we  are  not  informed.  The  modern  Russians  and 
Cossaks  have  no  such  scruple.  Koumiss  is  a  common  and  successful  regi- 
men among  them  for  pulmonary  disorders,  and  is  served,  duiing  the  sea- 
son, at  all  the  best  tables  in  Tcherkask. 

XXIV. — From  Perekop,  Rubruquis  travelled  eastwards,  having,  as  he 
describes  the  country,  the  sea  on  the  south  side,  and  a  vast  desert  on  the 
north ;  "  which  desert,  in  some  places,  reaches  twenty  days'  journey  in 
breadth,  without  tree,  mountain,  or  so  much  as  a  stone  therein,  and  afford- 
ing excellent  pasture.  Here  the  Cumani,  who  were  called  Capthad  ',  were 
wont  to  feed  their  cattle,  and  were  the  same  whom  the  Germans  called 
Walani,  and  their  country  Walania.  But  Isidore  calleth  all  the  tract  of 
land  stretching  from  the  river  Tanais  to  the  lake  Maeotis,  and  so  far  as  the 
Danube,  the  country  of  the  Alani."  To  these  Cumani,  or  Cumanians, 
Rubruquis  ascribes  the  singular  monuments  already  mentioned,  and  notices 
the  drinking-cup  which  the  statues  canied  "  before  their  navels."  But,  as 
tire  Cumanians  were  either  killed  or  dri\-en  from  the  country  before  his 
arrival,  this  testimony  amounts  to  no  more  than  that  these  monuments 
were  constructed  by  some  race  anterior  to  the  Tartars ;  and  I  have  already 
given  some  reason  for  supposing  them  to  be  of  Scythian  origin.  At  the 
same  time,  as  the  Cumani  were  probably  themselves  a  Scythian  race,  it  is 

'  Capthad,  or  Capshak,  was  the  name  of  the  territory,  not  of  the  people  ;  the  Tartar  sove- 
reigns of  Astrachan  and  the  Crimea  were  called  Sultans  of  Capshak,  as  the  more  northern  state 
of  Casan  bore  the  name  of  Kipshak.  Has  Shak  any  reference  to  the  Socae,  the  oriental  name 
for  the  Scythians  ? 

4  p  2 


660  HISTORY  OF  THE  COSSAKS. 

APPEN-  certainly  not  impossible  that  they  may  have  had  the  same  rites  of  sepulture, 
"  "—  and  the  same  national  distinction  of  a  cup  at  the  girdle.  If  this,  however, 
had  been  the  case,  we  should  probably  have  heard  of  it  from  the  Hungarian 
authors.  The  Tartars  appear  to  have  had  very  different  customs ;  yet  some 
of  them  are  truly  Scythian.  Rubruquis  saw  one  newly  buried,  in  honour 
of  whom  they  had  hung  up  sixteen  horse-hides  on  high  poles,  four  towards 
each  quarter  of  the  world ;  and  they  set  beside  him  koumiss  to  drink  and 
flesh  to  eat ;  and  yet  they  said  he  had  been  baptized.  He  noticed  the 
pyramids  and  towers  of  brick  and  stone  which  the  Nogays  still,  not  imfre- 
quently,  raise  over  their  dead  ;  and  tombs  of  another  kind,  in  the  eastern 
districts,  composed  of  a  large  pavement  of  irregular  stones,  and  four  long 
stones  pitched  upright  towards  the  four  cardinal  points.  Of  these  last  I 
have  seen  no  instance,  nor  have  I  met  with  a  description  of  them  in  any 
other  author. 

XXV.—"  A  few  days  before  the  feast  of  St.  Mary  Magdalen,"  Rubru- 
quis arrived  on  the  banks  of  the  Tanais,  "by  which  he  means  the  Don."  In 
his  course  from  Perekop  he  had  passed  two  rivers ;  and  before  he  arrived 
at  the  main  stream  of  the  Tanais,  which  was  as  broad  as  the  Seine  at  Paris," 
(a  great  deal  broader  he  might  have  said,)  "  they  had  passed  over  many 
fine  waters,  all  full  of  fish  ;  of  which  delicious  food  the  Tartars,  however, 
made  very  small  account." 

This  description  appears  to  apply  to  Tcherkask,  which  is  seated  on  some 
small  islands  in  the  bed  of  the  river  ;  or  perhaps  still  more  to  Azoph,  as  the 
successive  passage  of  the  different  streams  which  intersect  its  Delta,  strictly 
corresponds  to  the  several  waters  full  of  fish  which  were  passed  before  a 
traveller  arrived  at  the  main  stream  of  the  Don.  No  Cossaks  are  men- 
tioned by  that  name  ;  but  on  the  eastern  bank  of  the  river,  Sartach,  the 
Tartar  chieftain,  had  erected  some  cottages,  and  placed  in  them  a  colony 
of  Russians  to  maintain  the  ferry.  Carriages  were  taken  over  as  they 
are  at  present,  in  double  canoes.  A  little  lower  down  the  stream  was 
another  cottage,  where  passengers  were  ferried  over  in  the  winter 
time,  where  the  Tartars  were  accustomed  to  drive  their  herds  from  the 
north  of  their  dominions  towards  their  southern  frontier,  and  the  warm 
meadows  of  the  Cuban.  The  dress  of  the  Russians  of  the  thirteenth  cen- 
tury differed  little  from  that  which  they  now  wear.  They  had  plantations 
of  rye  and  millet  in  the  neighbourhood  of  their  settlement,  the  soil  not 
suiting  wheat.  They  pleaded,  at  first,  a  privilege  from  Batu,  which  ex- 
empted them  from  furnishing  oxen  or  carts  to  travellers ;  but  on  Rubruquis 


HISTORY  OF  THE  COSSAKS.  (J61 

representing  that  his  mission  was  for  the  common  good  of  Christianity,    appen- 
tliese  poor  people  cheerfully  fui-nished  them  with  oxen  and  drivers  ;  pro-  __ 
ceeding  with  which,  they  arrived,  on  the  2d  of  August,  at  the  court  or 
camp  of  Sartach. 

XXVI. — The  geography  of  this  ferry  is  not  a  httle  perplexed ;  but  I 
can  find  no  place  where  it  can  be  fixed  with  much  probability,  unless  it  be 
somewhere  between  Tcherkask  and  Azoph :  the  last  of  which  stations  is 
apparently  the  most  southern  of  the  two  ferries  mentioned  by  Rubruquis. 
It  cannot  have  been  to  the  north  of  Tcherkask,  because  the  rivers  Don  and 
Volga  were  ten  days'  journey  asunder  in  the  place  where  the  missionaries 
passed,  which  can  only  answer  to  a  situation  near  the  mouth  of  the  former. 
And  it  is  a  circumstance  not  without  its  importance  to  the  historian  of  the 
Don  Cossaks,  that  the  people  who  inhabited  their  country  in  the  thirteenth 
century  were  of  the  Christian  faith,  and  of  Russian  descent.  The  banks  of 
the  Tanais  Rubruquis  describes  as  woody  and  fertile,  and  he  gives  the 
same  character  of  the  country  eastward.  Yet  he  must  here  speak  of  the 
northern  parts,  and  of  those  which  he  only  knew  by  hearsay,  since  this 
description  does,  certainly,  not  apply  to  any  part  of  the  country  south  of 
Voronetz  ;  and  Rubniquis  himself  asserts,  that  his  company  travelled  three 
days  after  they  passed  the  Tanais,  without  meeting  either  inhabitants  or 
dwellings.  During  this  lonely  march,  their  oxen  and  themselves  were 
ready  to  sink  with  fatigue ;  and  they  were  only  able  to  discover  a  Tartar 
encampment  on  the  fourth  day,  by  the  providential  appearance  of  two 
stray  horses  in  the  wilderness. 

XXVII. — North  of  the  country  which  the  ambassadors  now  traversed, 
were  the  forests  of  the  Moxells,  (Tcheremissi)  and  the  IVIerclas,  or  Mer- 
dui,  (INIordvini,)  and  more  northward  still,  a  country  where  the  carriages 
were  drawn  by  large  dogs.  To  the  south  they  had  very  high  mountains, 
(yet  at  such  a  distance  they  could  not  possibly  see  Caucasus,  and  must, 
therefore,  here  also  speak  from  hearsay,)  at  whose  feet,  and  adjoining  the 
great  desert  which  they  had  so  long  been  traversing,  were  the  several  na- 
tions of  the  Carges,  (Kinghis)  the  Alani,  or  Abcas, "  who  were  yet  Chris- 
tians, and  made  war  on  the  Tartars ;"  and  the  Lesgees,  who  were  subject 
to  the  Tartars  ;  and  beyond  these  was  the  "  iron  gate"  of  Caucasus.  "  The 
regions  which  we  passed,"  continues  Rubniquis,  "  the  Cumani  inhabited 
before  they  were  expelled  by  the  Tartars."  All  these  tribes  are  still  found 
in  the  seats  which  he  assigns  to  them,  except  the  Cumanians,  whose  ex- 
pulsion he  had  already  mentioned,  and  the  Kinghis  Cossaks,  who  are  now 


662  HISTORY  OF  THE  COSSAKS. 

APPKN-  found  to  the  north-east  of  the  Caspian  :  they  still,  however,  preserve  the 
===  tradition  of  having  migrated  from  the  neighbourhood  of  Caucasus  ;  and  the 
testimony  of  Rubruqviis,  which  fixes  them  there  in  the  thirteenth  century, 
may  seem  to  pi-ove  that  it  is  to  them,  and  not  to  the  Cossaks,  that  the 
district  of  Casachia,  mentioned  by  Constantine  Porphyrogenitus,  belonged. 
XXVIII. — The  third  day  after  leaving  the  camp  of  Sartach,  who 
received  them  not  over  courteously,  they  arrived  at  the  great  river  Etilia 
(Volga).  "  The  stream  of  which,  when  Rubruquis  beheld,  he  marvelled 
from  what  region  of  the  north  such  huge  and  mighty  waters  should  de- 
scend." They  had  been  chiefly  allured  into  Tartary  by  the  report  that 
Sartach  was  a  Christian  ;  but  before  they  left  his  encampment,  Coiat, 
with  many  other  scribes  of  his  court,  said  to  him,  "  Do  not  make 
I'eport  that  our  lord  is  a  Christian,  but  a  Moal  (Mongul)  because  the  name 
of  Christian  seemeth  to  them  to  be  the  name  of  some  nation ;  and  so  great 
is  their  pride  that,  though  they  believe,  perhaps,  something  concerning 
Christ,  yet  they  will  not  be  called  Christians,  being  desirous  that  their  own 
name,  that  is  to  say  Moal,  should  be  exalted  above  all  other  names. 
Neither  will  they  be  called  by  the  name  of  Tartars,  for  the  Tartars  zoere 
another  nation,  as  I  was  informed  by  them."  The  country  between  the  Don 
and  the  Volga  was  considerably  infested  by  small  predatory  companies  of 
Russians,  Hungarians,  (from  Great  Hungary,  I  presume,  or  the  neighbour- 
hood of  the  Yaik)  and  Alani ;  and  on  the  Volga  was  another  ferry  main- 
tained by  a  blended  colony  of  Tartars  and  Russians. 

XXIX. — Ha\ing  thus  conducted  Rubruquis  to  the  eastern  limits  of 
Scythia,  it  is  not  my  intention  to  pursue  his  further  progress  to  the  court 
of  Baton,  or  to  that  of  Mangen  Khan,  and  the  imperial  city  of  Caracorum. 
It  may  suflfice  to  observe  that  the  tents  of  these  rustic  sovereigns  were  ap- 
parently well  stocked  with  every  thing  which  might  contribute  to  in- 
dulgence or  splendour ;  that  Christian  slaves,  and  monks,  and  artificers 
were  abundant  every  where ;  that  there  were  Germans  digging  for  gold, 
and  forging  armour  at  a  village  named  Bolac ;  and  that  in  Caracorum, 
though  a  city  of  no  great  size  or  promising  appearance,  was  resident  one 
Master  "VS'illiam  Bouchier,  a  Frenchman  by  birth,  and  a  goldsmith  of  no 
ordinary  skill,  who  adorned  the  palaces  of  Mangen  Khan  with  toys  which 
might  excite  the  cupidity  of  the  modern  court  of  Pekin,  and  must  have 
considerably  surpassed  the  richest  ornaments  of  his  own  sovereign,  or  of 
any  other  European  potentate  of  the  age.  "  Mangen,"  says  Rubruquis, 
"  hath  at  Caracorum  a  great  court,  hard  by  the  walls  of  the  city,  enclosed 


HISTORY  OF  THE  COSSAKS.  663 

with  a  brick  vvall,  as  the  priories  of  monks  are  enclosed  with  us.  In  that  appen- 
court  there  is  a  great  palace  wherein  he  holdeth  his  feasts  twice  a  year ;  - 
once  in  Easter  when  he  passetli  that  way,  and  once  in  summer  when  he 
returneth  ;  but  the  latter  is  the  greater,  because  then  all  the  nobles  meet 
together  at  his  court,  and  then  he  gives  unto  them  garments,  and  shows 
all  his  magnificence.  There  are  many  other  houses  there  as  large  as  our 
farms,  wherein  his  victuals  and  treasures  are  stored.  In  the  entrance  of 
that  great  place  (because  it  was  indecent  to  have  flagons  going  about  as 
in  a  tavern)  ^Villiam,  the  goldsmith,  made  him  a  great  silver  tree,  at  the 
root  whereof  were  four  silver  lions  ;  having  one  pipe  sending  forth  pure 
cow's  milk,  and  four  other  pipes,  conveyed  within  the  tree  to  the  top  thereof, 
and  thence  spreading  back  again  downward  like  branches  ;  and  upon  each 
was  a  golden  serpent,  the  tails  of  all  four  of  which  were  made  to  twine 
I'ound  the  tree  ;  and  one  of  these  pipes  ran  with  wine,  another  with  cara- 
kosmos,  another  with  mead,  another  with  drink  made  of  rice  called  teracina ; 
and  to  each  species  of  liquor  was  its  proper  vessel  at  the  foot  of  the  tree 
to  receive  it.  Between  these  four  pipes,  at  the  top,  he  made  a  golden 
angel  holding  a  trumpet,  and  under  the  tree  he  made  a  hollow  vault, 
wherein  a  man  might  be  hidden,  and  a  pipe  ascending  through  the  heart 
of  the  tree  unto  the  angel.  First  he  made  bellows,  but  they  gave  not 
wind  enough.  Without  the  palace  is  a  chamber  where  the  liquors  are 
laid,  and  there  were  servants  ready  to  pour  out  when  they  heard  the  angel 
sounding  the  trumpet ;  and  the  boughs  of  the  tree  are  of  silver,  and  so  are 
the  leaves  and  the  pears  on  it.  When,  therefore,  they  want  drink,  the 
butler  commandeth  the  angel  to  sound  the  trumpet :  he  who  is  hid  in  the 
vault,  hearing  the  command,  blows  the  pipe  strongly,  which  ascending  to 
the  angel,  he  sets  his  trumpet  to  his  mouth,"  (how  he  did  this  is  not  ex- 
pressed) "  and  the  trumpet  soundeth  very  shrill.  Then  the  servants 
in  the  chamber  pour  liquor  into  the  proper  pipe,  and  the  pipes  pour  it  from 
above,  and  they  are  received  below  into  the  vessels  prepared  for  that 
purpose."  The  journal  of  William  de  Rubruquis  is  marked  throughout 
with  an  apparent  honesty  and  exactness  which  forbid  us  to  doubt  whatever 
he  asserts  of  his  own  knowledge  ;  yet,  it  must  be  owned,  the  works  of  his 
French  goldsmith  surpass,  both  in  magnificence  and  artifice,  any  thing 
Avhich  we  should  have  expected  to  find  at  such  a  period  either  in  Europe 
or  Asia  ;  and  the  machinery  of  this  marvellous  conduit  resembles  rather  the 
elaborate  fictions  in  the  "  Dream  of  Polyphile,"  than  the  usual  efforts  of 
art  in  a  barbarous  age,  and  at  the  court  of  a  Khan  of  Tartary.     But  though 


664  HISTORY  OF  THE  COSSAKS. 

APPEN-   there  were  many  Christians  in  the  court,  and  though  the  Nestorian  monks 

DTX 

==  pretended  that  Mangen  Khan  was  really  baptized,  there  was  every  outward 
appearance  of  his  still  professing  the  religion  of  his  ancestors.  At  all  his 
public  feasts  he  venerated,  in  the  usual  manner,  the  little  felt  idols  which 
are  the  Penates  of  the  Mongul  tent;  and  his  regard  for  Christianity  appears 
to  have  proceeded  no  further  than  an  unbounded  toleration  or  indiffer- 
ence for  every  sect  of  Christians,  and  a  behef  that  their  priests,  like 
other  Schamans,  or  Bonzes,  had  a  certain  degree  of  influence  with  the 
Almighty. 

XXX. — The  death  of  Mangen  Khan,  who  was  killed  in  a  fruitless 
attempt  to  storm  Ho-tcheou,  a  city  in  the  Chinese  province  of  Setchuen, 
which  was  at  that  time  subject  to  an  independant  monarch,  was  a 
fatal  blow  to  the  integrity  of  the  vast  Mongulian  empire  '.  Kublai, 
his  successor  on  the  throne  of  China,  was,  indeed,  considered  as  lord 
paramount  of  the  whole  vast  tract  from  Kief  to  Nangkin,  and  from  the 
northern  to  the  Indian  ocean ;  but  Baton  in  Capshak,  Houlagon  in 
Persia,  and  Zagatai  in  Maralwinhar,  or  Bucharia,  assumed  the  title 
of  Khan,  and  the  power  of  absolute,  though  nominally  dependant, 
sovereigns.  Yet  were  these  fragments  of  the  empire  of  Gengis  Khan  in 
themselves  so  formidable,  that  the  sultans  of  Kapehac  continued  long  the 
terrour  not  only  of  Russia,  which  they  governed  or  wasted  at  pleasure,  but 
of  the  furthest  extremities  of  Poland,  of  Hungary,  and  of  Thrace.  But 
the  savage  policy  of  Batou,  though  it  sufficed  to  extend  his  conquests,  was 
not  able  to  transmit  even  a  part  of  them  to  his  son.  His  brother  Berekay 
put  his  nephew  to  death  before  Batou  was  cold  in  the  grave ;  and  the 
nobles,  when  assembled  at  a  great  feast,  proclaimed  the  murderer  sovereign 
of  Capshak,  A.D.  1255.  The  reign  of  Berekay  was  chiefly  distinguished 
by  a  fresh  inroad  into  Lithuania  in  the  year  1258 ;  by  the  estabUshraent 
of  a  census  and  poll  tax  all  over  Russia  in  the  year  following  ;  and,  above 
all,  by  the  introduction  of  Mahomedanism  into  Scythia,  and  the  conversion 
of  the  Khan  and  his  subjects.  His  latter  days  were  embittered  by  the 
revolt  of  his  kinsman  Nogaia,  son  of  Mogol,  son  of  Tatar,  son  of  Touschi 
Khan,  who  was  supported  by  the  Greek  emperor  Michael  Palaeologus, 
whose  natural  daughter,  Euphrosyne,  he  married,  and  whose  name  has 
since  become  a  natural  appellation  for  all  the  Tartai's  of  New  Russia. 

XXXI. — ^Berekay,  who  had  murdered  his  nephew,  was  not  likely  to 

'  He  fill  in  the  52d  year  of  his  age,  and  the  tenth  of  his  reign,  A.D.  1259. 


HISTORY  OF  THE  COSSAKS.  665 

leave  the  crown  to  any  posterity  of  his  own,  and  was  succeeded  by  the  appen- 
third  brother  of  Baton,  Mangu  Timur.  This  prince  destroyed,  in  1277,  °^^' 
the  poor  remains  of  the  Jazii,  or  Jazyges  of  Lithuania,  and  took  their  city 
Dediadoh.  In  them  perished  the  last  independant  relic  of  those  Sarmata, 
so  famous  once,  and  so  formidable,  though  Pastori  '  ascribes  their  destruc- 
tion to  Lescus,  the  black  king  of  Poland  in  1289.  Mangu  Timur  was 
attended  in  this  expedition  by  almost  all  the  nobility  of  Russia,  Avho  re- 
fused, however,  as  it  should  seem,  to  follow  him  in  his  further  progi-ess 
against  the  Christian  kingdom  of  Bulgaria.  It  was  during  this  monarch's 
reign  that  Bibars,  sultan  of  Egyjit,  who,  like  many  of  the  other  Mamelucs, 
had  been  originally  a  Cumanian  slave,  from  a  natural  desire  to  enrich  and 
beautify  the  place  of  his  birth,  erected  those  splendid  baths  and  mosques  at 
Iski  Crim,  or  Cimmerium,  of  which  the  ruins  still  rise  so  proudly  above 
the  orchards  and  cottages  of  its  present  Armenian  inhabitants  ^  The 
district,  however,  which  is  one  of  the  most  fertile  in  the  Crimea,  and  the 
best  peopled,  by  no  means  merits,  at  the  present  day,  the  lamentations  of 
Des  Guignes,  who  contrasts  its  ancient  multitudes  of  inns  and  bazars 
with  "  the  deer  and  wild-goats"  which  now  wander,  as  he  supposes,  in  its 
desolate  places. 

XXXII. — The  following  circumstance  is  worth  noticing,  as  it  may 
serve  to  show  the  nature  of  the  excesses  committed  by  the  Tartars  in 
Russia.  In  1283  there  was  in  the  province  of  Koursk,  a  chieftain  of  that 
nation  named  Achmed,  who  had  built  and  fortified  two  villages  in  which  a 
great  number  of  robbers  collected,  who  ravaged  all  the  country  of  Koursk 
and  Orel.  Oleg,  prince  of  Russia,  and  Sviatoslav,  one  of  the  chief  boyars 
of  the  country,  complained  to  one  of  Nogaia's  generals  named  Toulabouga, 
who  destroyed  this  nest  of  robbers,  and  set  at  hberty  all  their  prisoners. 
But  Achmed  had  interest  enough  at  the  court  of  Nogaia  to  shift  the  charge 
of  robbery  from  his  own  people  to  those  of  the  Russan  chieftains ;  and, 
having  obtained  a  sufficient  force,  compelled  both  Oleg  and  Sviatoslav  to 

'  Pastori  Flor.  Polonicas,  L.  ii.  §  14. 

'  Des  Guisgnes,  torn.  iii.  p.  343.  The  principal  mosque  was  cased  with  white  marble, 
and  paved  with  porphyrj-.  He  established  also,  in  the  same  city,  several  colleges  for  the  study 
of  Islamism  and  astrology.  Des  Guignes  supposes  the  present  inhabitants  of  Iski  Crim  to  be 
Jews  and  Tartars.  They  are,  in  truth,  a  colony  of  Arminians,  though  a  very  poor  one.  The 
place  fell  into  decay  when  the  Genoese  transferred  the  commerce  of  Europe  from  Sudak  to 
Caffa,  which  latter  town  was  only  just  reviving  from  the  ruins  of  old  Theodosia  at  the  time  of 
which  we  are  now  speaking. 

VOL.  I.  4  Q 


QQQ  HISTORY  OF  THE  COSSAKS. 

APPEN-    fly  the  country,  put  their  daughters  and  several  of  their  nobles  to  death, 
°^^'      and  clothing  some  beggars  in  their  robes,  sent  them  through  the  country 
to  proclaim  the  fate  which  awaited  whatever  district  should  oppose  itself  to 

the  "  Baskaks." 

This  last  name  perplexes  Des  Guignes  ;  but  is  nothing  more  than  the 
Tartar  name  for  governor,  and  was  assigned  to  an  officer  appointed  by  the 
conquerors  to  receive  the  tribute  of  every  province. 

XXXII. — It  would  be  neither  easy  nor  interesting  to  enter  into  the 
details  of  this  confused  and  calamitous  period  of  Scythian  history,  any 
further  than  to  state  that  the  empire  of  Kapshak,  though  reunited  after  the 
death  of  Nogaia,  who  fell  in  battle  in  the  year  1291,  was  again  spht  into 
the  sovereignties  of  Astrachan,  of  Casan,  and  of  the  Nogayan  horde  ;  and 
that  intestine  divisions,  and  the  repeated  though  unsuccessful  insurrections 
of  different  Russian  districts  had  so  far  weakened  the  western  Tartars 
that  they  fell  an  easy  prey  to  Tamerlane,  the  famous  conqueror  and 
sultan  of  Maralvenham  in  the  year  1395 '.  In  the  year  1415,  Idikon,  a 
Tartar  chieftain,  ravaged  all  the  duchy  of  Kief  in  consequence  of  a  dis- 
graceful alliance  which  the  Teutonic  knights  in  Russia  had  formed  with 
these  enemies  of  the  Christian  faith,  against  Poland  and  Lithuania.  And 
the  new  kingdom  of  the  Crimea,  which  was  erected  about  the  same  time 
by  a  Tartar  peasant  named  Gerai,  though,  by  weakening  still  more  the 
power  of  the  Tartars,  it  freed  Europe  from  all  further  fear  of  subjugation, 
was  during  many  years,  under  the  protection  and  influence  of  Turkey, 
a  very  troublesome  and  dangerous  neighbour  to  the  borders  of  Poland  and 
Russia  ^ 


'   Des  Guignes,  torn.  iii.  p.  300. 

-  During  the  intestine  troubles  of  tlie  kingdom  of  Kapshak,  an  infant  descendant  of 
Genghis  Khan  was  brought  up  by  the  shepherd  Gerai,  who,  eight  years  afterwards,  on  the 
horde  to  whicli  he  belonged  lamenting  the  extinction  of  their  ancient  blood  royal,  produced 
the  boy,  then  eighteen  years  old,  to  them  as  a  scion  of  that  noble  stock.  All  the  western 
Tartars  hastened  to  join  his  standard  ;  and  Hadgi  Khan,  when  seated  on  the  throne  of  Batchi- 
serai,  assumed,  as  a  mark  of  honour  to  his  foster-father,  who  refused  every  other  reward,  the 
surname  of  Gerai,  and  appointed  it,  thenceforth,  as  the  name  of  all  the  descendants  of  Zinghis. 
I  have  omitted  to  observe  that,  in  the  accoimt  which  Des  Guignes  furnishes  of  the  inroad  of 
1'amerlane  into  Kapshak,  he  strangely  confounds  the  Borysthenes,  or  Dnieper,  with  the  Terek, 
or  some  other  river  of  Cavicasus,  since  he  makes  the  Uzi,  or  Usbeks,  fly  over  the  Borysthenes 
into  Asia  Minor.  The  flight  of  these  Usbeks  at  the  approach  of  Tamerlane,  and  the  direction 
which  they  took,  corresponds  pretty  closely  with  those  of  the  Cimmerians  in  the  time  of  the 
first  Scythian  invasion. 


HISTORY  OF  THE  COSSAKS.  667 

In  the  meantime,  however,  a  new  power  was  silently  rismg  in  Scythia,    appex 


of  a  character  distinct  from  any  which  had  yet  appeared  there,  and  which 
has  since  seemed  destined  to  produce  more  striking  and  permanent  effects 
on  the  general  interests  of  Europe  than  any  of  the  tribes  which  pre- 
ceded it. 

XXXIII.— During  the  scenes  of  intolerable  oppression  which  I  have 
thus  shghtly  portrayed,  and  to  which,  during  many  centuries  the  country 
was  exposed,  there  were  certain  situations,  which,  as  being  neither  objects 
of  cupidity  to  the  Tartars,  nor  easily  accessible  by  their  violence,  were  the 
natural  refuge  of  all  who  wished  to  escape  from  tyranny.  Fearing  the 
water,  and  dishking  fish,  the  Monguls  had  few  motives  strong  enough  to 
induce  them  to  attack  such  fugitives  as  might  shelter  themselves  in  the 
retreats  and  fastnesses  of  the  Bog,  the  Dnieper,  the  Donetz,  and  the  Don. 
Nor  is  it  possible  to  visit  the  labyrinth  of  marshy  or  rocky  islets,  surrounded 
by  these  mighty  rivers,  without  recognizing  the  same  facilities  for  con- 
cealment and  security,  which  fostered  the  infant  freedom  of  the  first  settlers 
of  Venice. 

The  Curaani  we  have  already  seen  driven  from  their  pastures  to  perish 
with  hunger  on  the  shores  of  the  Euxine,  and  the  Palus  Mteotis ;  and  it  is 
not  improbable  that  some  of  these  fugitives  found  a  better  asylum  in  these 
fens  and  waters.  The  Russians,  who,  as  fishermen  and  pirates,  had  a 
perfect  knowledge  of  every  ford  and  lagoon,  every  rapid  and  shallow  of  the 
stream,  would  naturally  resort  to  their  own  element  as  a  refuge  from  an 
enemy  to  whom  even  the  use  of  rafts  was  unknown.  And  the  ferrymen  of 
the  same  nation  whom  Rubruquis  found  established  by  Sartach  on  the 
Don,  and  the  miserable  peasants  who  cultivated  the  ground  for  the  iMongul 
lords,  would,  in  the  common  course  of  yearly  oppression  and  escape,  afford 
a  very  numerous  reinforcement  to  any  association  of  freemen  or  robbers  in 
the  neighbourhood  '. 

XXXIV. — The  members  of  these  predatory  republics  would  be  called 
by  the  neighbouring  Tartars,  "  Cossaks,"  or  "  jVIarauders  ;"  and  then*  retreats 
fortified  by  an  abattis  of  trees  and  brushwood,  might  find  in  the  same 
language  (as  I  am  informed)  the  appropriate  name  of  "  Tcherkassi,"  "  cut 
down."  We  find,  accordingly,  that  their  earhest  capital  on  the  Dnieper 
bore  this  appellation,  which  was  afterwards  transferred,  with  better  fortune, 
to  the  present  metropolis  of  the  Don.     The  origin,  however,  of  the  name 

'  Pastori  de  Bello  Casaceico,  p.  7.     Idem.  Hist.  Polon.  Plenior,  P.  1.1.  1.  p.  13.     Sabi- 
eski  Bello  Chotzimenska,  L.  11.     Hartnock  de  Repub.  Polon.  p.  842. 

4  Q  2 


DIX. 


GG8  HISTORY  OF  THE  COSSAKS. 

APPEN-  of  Cossak  has  been  differently  stated  by  almost  every  writer  on  the  subject. 
'—  Some,  whose  opinions  I  have  heard,  some  years  ago,  supported  in  conversation 
by  no  less  an  authority  than  the  valiant  and  venerable  Maffei  Ivanovitch 
Platof,  derive  it  from  the  Slavonic  word  "  cossa,"  a  sickle,  scythe,  or  crooked 
sabre  ' ;  and  it  will  be  seen  hereafter  that  the  blades  of  scythes  set  straight 
on  staves,  were  a  customary  and  very  formidable  weapon  among  the 
Cossaks  of  the  Ukraine.  Others,  having  found  that  "  kosa"  signifies  a 
goat  in  the  Polish  language,  deduce  Cossak  from  the  agility  of  their  motion, 
or  from  the  skins  with  which  they  were  clad  ^  Others,  more  absurdly, 
from  "  chodzik,"  to  walk,  or  "  kosi"  barks  or  pinnaces  '.  But  as  Cossak, 
in  the  sense  which  I  have  first  mentioned,  is  a  word  of  common  occurrence 
in  Des  Guignes'  histoiy ;  and  was  a  frequent  agnomen  not  only  to  indi- 
viduals, but  to  entire  tribes  ;  and  as  Tcherkash,  or  Tcherkassi,  has  no 
meaning  in  any  language  but  the  Turkish,  I  apprehend  that  we  may  with 
most  probability,  conclude  the  names,  both  of  the  Cossaks  and  of  their 
cities,  to  be  derived  from  the  Tartar  nations  who  surrounded  them,  and 
who  were  lords  of  the  soil  at  the  time  when  they  first  appeared. 

XXXV. — With  the  origin,  however,  and  degree  of  antiquity  thus  as- 
signed to  them,  it  is  possible  that  neither  the  Cossaks  themselves,  nor  many 
of  those  who  have  written  respecting  them,  will  be  satisfied.  Des  Guignes, 
who  did  not  unite  to  his  valuable  industry  any  great  degree  of  critical  acu- 
men, supposes  them  to  have  been  originally  Cumanians,  whose  other  name 
of  Capthad,  or  Kapshak,  he  would  gladly,  I  know  not  on  what  principle  of 
etymology,  convert  into  Cossak.  He  pretends,  in  like  manner,  that  their 
features  are  oriental,  which  is  absolutely  contrary  to  the  fact :  he  supposes 
them  to  have  been  converted  by  Dominican  missionaries,  whereas  they  are, 
and  always  have  been,  of  the  Greek  religion ;  and,  forgetting  that  his  own 
Cumani  were  not  Mahomedans,  he  asserts,  in  equal  contempt  of  truth, 
that  the  present  Cossaks  retain  many  Mahomedan  rites  in  their  religion. 

That  the  Cumani  fugitives  may  have  formed,  at  first,  no  inconsider- 
able part  of  the  Cossak  establishments,  is  certainly  not  improbable,  though 
a  race  whose  previous  habits  were  exclusively  Scythian,  would  have  ill 
accorded  with  the  amphibious  sitviation  of  the  people  whom  I  am  now  de- 
scribing. But  though  these  and  many  other  fugitives  of  all  nations  have 
possibly  found  an  asylum  with  the  Cossaks,  the  dialect  of  this  last  people, 

'  Joan  Herbinus.  Kiovia  Subterranea,  c.  2.  p.  7. 
'  Piasecius  Chronicon  Polon.  ad  ann.  1643,  p.  53. 
"  Pastori  Hist.  Polon.  Plenior,  lib.  1.  p.  14. 


HISTORY  OF  THE  COSSAKS.  669 

which  is  pure  Slavonic,  and  their  religion,  which  has  ever  been  the  same    appen- 
with  that  of  the  Russians,   evince  that  this  is  the  stock  from  which  their  - 

main  population  has  emanated.  And  the  recruits  which  they  have  received 
from  other  tribes,  though,  by  the  well-known  effect  of  a  mixture  of  breeds, 
the  appearance  of  the  animal  has  been  improved,  have  not  been  sufficient 
to  corrupt  their  language,  or  to  give  an  Asiatic  expression  to  their  physiog- 
nomy. As  it  has,  nevertheless,  been  asserted  by  Scherer,  that  they  were 
originally  called  Chozares,  a  circumstance  which  may  seem  to  connect 
them  with  the  mighty  Turkish  nation  of  that  name  ;  and  as  my  friend.  Dr. 
Clarke,  has  suggested  the  probability  of  their  being  originally  a  tribe  of 
Circassians,  the  following  short  sketch  of  their  respective  systems  may  not 
be  uninteresting  to  the  reader. 

XXXVI. — Scherer's  opinion  is  founded,  as  he  assures  us,  on  the  in- 
formation of  the  Zaporogian  Cossaks  themselves,  who  gave  the  following 
account  of  their  origin  and  first  niilitaiy  achievement ' : — About  the  year 
800  a  solitary  Pohsh  adventm-er,  of  the  name  of  Simeon,  established  his 
summer  residence  on  a  kossa,  or  small  sandy  promontory  of  the  Liman  ^, 
or  common  estuary  of  the  rivers  Bog  and  Dnieper.  His  success  in  the 
chace  of  wild  boars  and  deer,  both  of  w-hich  are  very  numerous  in  the 
marshes  and  islets  of  these  great  streams,  procured  him,  in  the  following 
spring,  no  less  than  one  hundred  associates,  whose  attaman,  or  captain,  he 
became.  The  swarm  of  hunters,  or  robbers,  (for  from  the  one  to  the  other 
character  the  transition,  under  such  circumstances,  was  easy  and  almost  cer- 
tain,) grew  rapidly  in  number  and  power ;  and,  from  their  skill  in  archery, 
obtained  the  name  of  Chozars.  In  the  year  948  their  renown  had  extended 
so  far  as  Czaragrad,  (as  the  Slavonians  call  Constantinople  ;)  and  tlie  Greek 
emperor,  being  at  war  with  the  "  Turks  who  were  called  Saracens," 
despatched  an  emissary  to  engage  in  his  service  the  bowmen, "  who  never 
missed  their  aim."  These  hunters,  having  swelled  their  numbers  by  two 
thousand  reci-uits  from  the  Ukraine,  in  particular  from  the  little  towns  of 
Lisinka  and  Medvedevka,  sailed  for  the  Danube,  defeated  the  Turks  in 
many  engagements,  destroyed  their  villages,  and  returned  in  triumph  with 
a  vast  body  of  slaves  and  cattle,  and  a  letter  of  recommendation  from  the 
emperor  to  "  the  king  of  Poland,"  acknowledging  their  services,  and  praying 

'  Scherer  Histoire  de  Petite  Russie,  torn.  1,  c.  7.  p.  66. 

^  Scherer  absurdly  supposes  Liman  to  liave  been  the  name  of  a  town  ;  and  does  not  seem 
either  to  have  known  that  Czaragrad  meant  Constantinople. 


C70  HISTORY  OF  THE  COSSAKS. 

APPEN-    that  they  mio-ht  thenceforth,  instead  of  their  ancient  name  of  Chozar,  be 

IJ called  by  that  of  Cossak.     Why  this  last  was  a  more  warhke  or  honourable 

appellation,  Scherer  does  not  inform  us ;  but  this  is  not  the  only  absurdity 
in  this  specimen  of  Scythian  tradition.  In  the  year  800,  and  for  almost 
two  hundred  years  afterwards,  the  Poles  were  not  converted  to  Christianity, 
and  the  name  of  Simeon  was,  therefore,  not  likely  to  be  found  among 
them '.  The  mighty  Turkish  nation  of  Chozares  were  at  this  time  the 
sovereigns  and  occupants  of  all  Scythia ;  so  that  a  little  knot  of  Polish 
exiles  would  certainly  not  be  so  called.  If  the  Poles  had  a  king  at  all  in 
the  tenth  century,  which  is  by  no  means  certain,  he  had  surely  no  autho- 
rity over  the  principality  of  Kief,  nor  at  that  time  could  the  Poles  have 
read  the  letters  which  the  emperor  of  Greece  sent  to  them.  The  mention 
of  either  Turks  or  Saracens  in  Greece  at  so  early  a  period,  may  reasonably 
excite  a  smile  ;  and,  lastly,  the  silence  observed  both  by  Constantine  Por- 
phyrogenitus  and  Nestor,  is  a  proof  that  no  such  armament  as  is  here 
described,  had  been  sent  by  any  tribe  of  Slavonians  to  the  assistance  of  the 
emperor. 

XXXVII. — Ignorant,  however,  and  credulous  as  Scherer  undoubtedly 
was,  his  fidelity  is,  I  beheve,  unimpeached  ;  and  I  have  httle  doubt  that  he 
received,  as  he  professes,  from  the  Cossaks  themselves,  the  substance  of 
this  extraordinary  narrative.  There  are  many  circumstances  (such  as  the 
names  of  Czaragrad  and  Liman)  which  he  did  not  understand,  and  could 
not,  therefore,  have  invented ;  and  the  story  has  been  evidently  told  by 
some  one  who  knew  nothing  of  the  Chozares  as  a  nation,  and  only  under- 
stood the  word  in  its  later  and  more  common  sense  of  a  hght-horseman,  or 
archer,  a  sense  first  derived  from  the  cavalry  of  that  nation  in  the  service 
of  the  lower  empire,  and  since,  under  the  easy  corruption  of  Huzzar,  uni- 
versally adopted  in  Europe  ^  And  as  all  popular  traditions,  however  obscured 

'  Dlugossi  Hist.  I'olon.  Lib.  2.  pp.  J  24.  173.  edit.  Francofurt,  mdccxi. 

'  That  the  name  of  Chosar  became,  by  degrees,  (like  that  of  Swiss,  in  modern  France, 
for  a  porter,  and  Scotchman,  in  England,  for  a  pedlar,)  from  a  national,  to  be  a  professional 
appellation  for  a  light  horseman,  may  be  inferred  from  Constantine  Porphyrogenitus,  De  Cseri- 
moniis,  1.  ii.  c.  48,  p.  398.  The  transition  to  Houssar,  Hussar,  or,  as  the  Russians  still  spell 
it,  Guzar,  is  easy  and  obvious.  This  word,  indeed,  is  generally  considered  as  belonging  to 
the  Hungarian  language,  and  derived  from  "  Husz,"  which  means  "  twenty,"  one  man  in 
twenty  having  been,  as  is  pretended,  the  contingent  furnished  to  this  species  of  force  by  the 
peasants.  But  "  the  twentieth''  is  not,  in  the  Hungarian  language,  "  Hussar,"  but  "  Huszad." 
The  name  of  this  species  of  cavalry  is  met  with  in  the  Polish  histories  as  soon  as  in  the  Hun- 

2 


HISTORY  OF  THE  COSSAKS.  671 

in  their  circumstances,  are,  in  some  measure,  founded  on  fact,  it  is  possible  appkx- 
that  just  so  much  of  this  history  may  be  true  as  relates  to  the  original  cha-  ^== 
racter  of  the  Zaporogian  establishment,  and  the  name  of  its  founder.  The 
dates  which,  of  all  other  circumstances,  were  most  hkely  to  be  confused  by 
a  barbarous  people,  must,  however,  be  given  up ;  and  the  expedition  against 
the  Turks,  and  the  recommendatory  letter  from  the  emperor  of  Constanti- 
nople to  the  king  of  Poland,  might  be  very  natural  inventions  to  raise  the 
honour  of  their  tribe  in  the  opinion  of  a  stranger,  but  are  such  as  few- 
strangers  would  have  swallowed  with  so  much  facility  as  Scherer  has  done. 
At  all  events,  if,  at  the  time  of  the  first  establishment  of  the  Zaporogi,  the 
mouth  of  the  Dnieper  was  subject  to  the  king  of  Poland,  we  must  refer 
their  foundation  to  no  earlier  period  than  the  reign  of  Cassimir  the  First, 
in  1340,  since,  at  that  time  the  Poles  first  obtained  the  sovereignty  of  Kief. 
It  may  be  observed,  too,  that  though  Scherer's  informant  supposed  the 
Cossaks  to  have  born  originally  the  name  of  Chozares,  he  believed  the  one 
as  well  as  the  other  title  to  be  merely  that  of  their  warhke  profession,  and 
that  he  had  evidently  no  idea  that  they  sprung  from  any  but  a  Slavonic 
stock. 

XXXVIII. — Dr.  Clarke  has,  in  like  manner,  given  the  traditionary 
account  of  the  Don  Cossaks  as  he  received  it  fi'om  themselves,  to  the  fol- 
lowing effect  and  substance  : — A  small  body  of  Grecian  exiles,  at  some  un- 
known period,  posterior  to  the  erection  of  the  Tartar  town  of  Azoph,  being 
refused  an  asylum  in  this  last-named  place,  established  themselves  on  the 
marshy  islets  higher  up  the  river,  where  they  called  their  village  "  Tcher- 
kaskoy,"  or  "  the  small  village  of  the  Circassians."  And  from  this  small 
beginning,  augmented  by  recruits  from  the  neighbouring  Circassians,  the 
mighty  horde  of  the  Cossaks  had  its  origin,  which  has  since  extended  itself 
from  Siberia  to  the  fi'ontiers  of  Poland. 

I  shall  not  comment  on  the  position  which,  though  more  than  doubt- 
ful, is  here  taken  for  gi'anted,  that  the  Cossak  establishments  on  the  Dnie- 
per are  of  later  date  than  those  of  the  Don ;  but,  first,  it  does  not  appear 
why  a  Greek  colony  should  assume  a  Turkish  name,  or  call  itself  the  small 
village  of  the  Circassians,  because  there  were  some  of  that  people  in  its 
neighbourhood ;  nor,  secondly,  are  any  Circassians  to  be  found,  in  modern 
times,  within  about  three  hundred  miles  of  the  Don ;  nor  have  I  met  with 

garian  ;   and  Gyarmati  (afflnitas  Lingua  Hungarica,  p.  315,)  marks  •'  Hussar"  witli  an  asterisk 
as  a  Mord  of  foreign  extraction. 


67-2  HISTORY  OF  THE  COSSAKS. 

APPEN-    a  single  historian  of  credit  who  assigns  them,  at  any  former  period,  a  differ- 

1—  ent  abode  from  that  which  they  at  present  occupy.     And  it  appears  from 

the  testimony  of  Rubruquis,  ah-eady  noticed,  that,  in  his  time,  the  inhabit- 
ants of  the  country  about  the  Don  were  Russians.  But,  thirdly,  the  name 
of  the  chief  town  of  the  Donskoy  Cossaks  is  not,  as  my  learned  friend  sup- 
poses, Tcherkaskoy,  but  Tcherkask,  or  Cherkasque.  It  is  accordingly,  thus 
spelt  in  the  best  maps,  those  of  D'Anville  and  Arrowsmith,  in  the  large 
map  of  European  Russia  published  by  government,  and  in  the  common 
road-books  of  the  country,  both  in  Russ  and  German,  "  Koy,"  or  "  Ky," 
being,  in  Slavonic,  the  adjective  termination,  and  "  Tcherkaskoy"  signifying 
nothing  more  than  "  of,  or  belonging  to  Tcherkask."  That  Tcherkask,  there- 
fore, was  called  after  the  Circassians,  is  by  no  means  probable ;  and  that 
the  Cossaks  who  inhabit  Tcherkask,  much  more  those  who  resided  on  the 
Dnieper,  are  descended  from  any  of  the  tribes  of  Caucasus,  is  very  unlikely, 
when  we  consider  that  the  same  pui'ity  of  language  which  forbids  us  to 
suppose  that  they  are  descended  from  the  Cumani,  will  apply  with  equal 
force  against  the  claim  of  any  progenitors  not  speaking  the  Slavonic  tongue, 
which,  as  we  have  already  seen,  has,  during  the  period  embraced  by  history, 
extended  itself,  not  as  is  generally  supposed  from  the  east,  but  on  the  con- 
trary, from  the  west  to  the  eastward '.  If,  then,  the  Circassians  were  found 
to  agree  in  language  with  the  Slavons,  it  might  rather  be  supposed  that  the 
first  were  a  colony  of  the  latter,  than  that  any  tribe  of  these  last  had  retro- 
gi-aded  westward.  But  as,  in  truth,  the  languages  of  Caucasus  are  altoge- 
ther different  from  the  Slavonic,  it  will  follow  that  no  connection  either 
way  is  to  be  sought  for  between  them ;  and  that  the  Cossaks,  using  the 
Slavonic  tongue,  can  have  had,  at  most,  but  a  very  slight  connection  with 
the  Circassians. 

XXXIX. — Dr.  Clarke,  indeed,  is  of  opinion  that  the  Cossaks  may  have 
adopted  the  language  which  they  now  speak  at  the  time  of  their  conversion 
to  Christianity.  It  is  with  very  real  diffidence  that  I  differ  from  him  ;  but 
it  cannot  but  occur  to  his  more  mature  reflection,  that  the  acquirement 
of  a  new  language  by  a  barbarous  nation  is  not  likely  to  be  so  com- 
plete as    that  they  should    excel   their    teachers ;      or    that  their    new 

'  For  these  particulars,  and  for  the  superior  purity  of  the  Slavonic  spoken  by  the  Cossaks 
to  the  language  of  either  Russians  or  Poles,  I  am  indebted,  principally,  to  Captain  Ury  Lisi- 
ansky,  of  the  Russian  navy,  and  the  first  circumnavigator  of  that  nation,  who,  as  being  Iiimself 
a  native  of  Malo  Russia,  and  consequently  half  a  Cossak,  is  better  able  to  speak  to  whatever 
questions  concern  their  antiquities  or  their  present  situation. 


HISTORY  OF  THE  COSSAKS.  673 

dialect  should  be  free  from  all  traces  of  that  to  which  their  parents  and    appen- 

DIX. 

their  own  infancy  had  been  accustomed.     When  the  conquerors  of  the  ==- 
north  adopted  the  Roman  laws  and  rehgion,  what  a  jargon  did  they  make 
of  their  language  ?     It  is  still  more  improbable  that,  while  the  Cossaks  con- 
tinued to  subsist  in  a  numerous  and  compact  society,  they  should  have 
ceased  to  use  among  themselves  their  native  and  accustomed  speech  ;  since, 
even  in  the  least  favourable  situations,  experience  shows  how  long  the 
Cornish  in  Briton,  the  Wends  in  Germany,  the  Basques  in  Spain,  the 
Mordvini  in  Russia,  and  all  the  gipseys  all  over  the  world,  have  preserved 
their  national  and  distinctive  tongue.     Nor,  as  we  have  no  account  of  any 
more  recent  period  at  which  the  Cossaks  were  converted  to  Christianity, 
can  we  help  concluding  that  they  were,  at  the  time  of  the  conversion  of 
Volodimir,  a  part  of  the  same  great  Russian  nation,  with  whom  they  agree 
so  exactly  in  their  language,  their  ritual,  and  their  ancient  religious  pecu- 
liarities.     Had  their  Christianity  proceeded  jfi'om  Armenia,  they  would 
have  partaken  in  the  Armenians'  opinion  of  Christ's  nature  ;  had  they  been 
converted  by  the  Russians  at  a  recent  period,  the  doctrines  of  the  Raskol- 
niki  would  not  have  been  so  prevalent  among  them.     Dr.  Clarke  appears  to 
lay  considerable  stress  on  the  personal  advantages  of  the  Cossaks  over  the 
Russians,  and  pronounces  boldly  that  no  one  who  sees  them  can  imagine 
that  they  have  any  thing  in  common,  except  the  language  which  they  now 
speak.     I  certainly  do  not  think  so  meanly  of  the  northern  Russians  as 
ni}-  learned  fi-iend  does  ;  nor  was  I  able  to  chstinguish  any  greater  supe- 
riority in  the  appearance  of  the  Cossaks  than  what  better  fare,  a  better 
climate,  and  the  absence  of  slavery,  were  likely  to  effect.     Nor,  if  the  com- 
parison were  made,  not  with  the  Russians  in  the  neighbourhood  of  Moscow 
and  Petersburg,  who  are  generally  an  under-sized  and  sandy-haired  race, 
but  with   the  inhabitants   of  Yaroslav  and  Kostroma  on  the  north,  and 
Malo-Russia  on  the   south,  would  the  Cossaks  have  much  to  boast  of. 
Above  all,  the  southern  Slavons  of  Podolia  and  Hungary  are  remarkable 
for  their  personal  advantages  ;  and  it  is,  perhaps,  attributable  in  part  to  a 
mixture  of  Finnic  blood,  that  those  of  the  north  fall  short  of  them  in  these 
particidars.     Nor  can  it,  surely,  have  escaped  so  accurate  an  observer  as 
Dr.  Clarke,  that  the  Cossak  and  Circassian  features,  though  both  hand- 
some, have  a  very  different  style  of  expression  ;  and  that  in  passing  along 
the  borders,  it  was  no  difficult  matter  to  distinguish  where  the  breeds  had 
intermingled. 

XL. — It  is  true,  however,  that  at  the  foot  of  Caucasus,  and,  appa- 

VOL.  I.  4    R 


674  HISTORY  OF  THE  COSSAKS. 

APPEN-  rently,  in  the  district  now  occupied  by  the  Circassian  horde  of  Cabarda, 
-^-—  we  find,  in  Constantine  Porphyrogenitus,  a  region  called  Casachia ;  and 
that  Chardin,  as  I  have  lately  discovered,  notices  in  his  travels  a  race  called 
Cosaques  in  the  north  of  Persia.  But  the  first  of  these,  who,  with  their 
chief,  Rededa,  were  defeated  and  subdued  in  the  eleventh  century  by  Misi- 
tislav,  the  Russian  prince  of  the  isle  of  Taman,  were,  apparently,  the  same 
people  with  the  Kirghees,  whom  Rubruquis  places  in  the  neighbourhood 
of  Caucasus,  and  who  still  preserve,  in  their  present  abode  beyond  the 
Caspian,  the  name  of  Kaisak,  or  Casak,  and  the  tradition  of  their  western 
origin.  And,  though  it  is  not  improbable  that  a  small  party  of  Cossaks  may 
have  deserted,  at  an  early  period,  the  Russian  for  the  Persian  service,  and 
may  have  thus  founded  that  tribe  which  Chardin  mentions,  we  require  some 
more  information  as  to  their  language,  before  we  can  decide  whether  they 
belong  to  the  Kirghees  or  the  Slavonians,  to  the  Cossak  or  the  Kaisak  race. 
But  whichever  of  these  notions  be  correct,  neither  Cossaks  nor  Kaisaks  can 
thus  be  proved  to  have  been  Circassians.  And  though  many  Circassians 
have,  at  different  periods,  served  the  Russian  government  in  the  same  way, 
and  on  the  same  footing  as  the  Cossaks,  the  manner  in  which  the  two  races 
are  uniformly  distinguished  in  the  Russian  histories,  is  an  additional  proof 
that  none  but  foreigners  have  ever  confounded  them  together. 

XLI. — The  Circassians  themselves,  in  their  two  main  divisions  of  the 
Great  and  Little  Cabarda,  form  a  numerous  and  warlike  nation,  which  is  in 
every  respect  one  of  the  most  singular  and  perplexing  features  in  the  his- 
tory of  the  tribes  of  Caucasus.  Their  language  differs  not  only  from  the 
Slavonic,  but  from  the  Turkish,  Mongulian,  and  every  other  neighbouring 
dialect.  Their  religion  was,  till  of  late,  a  corrupted  Christianity  ;  and  still, 
though  the  great  body  of  their  nation  conform  themselves  outwardly  to 
Mahomedanism,  they  pay  a  certain  reverence  to  the  cross,  and  bow  at  the 
name  of  Jesus.  It  is  a  common  practice  for  their  wood-cutters  to  surmount 
a  stack  of  faggots  with  a  small  cross,  as  an  almost  infallible  method  of  pre- 
serving the  whole  from  plunder,  which,  under  such  circumstances,  would 
be  thought  sacrilegious  ;  and  the  severe  winters  of  1804  and  1805  had 
nearly  driven  them  to  open  apostacy  from  Islamism,  as  they  asserted  that 
such  calamities  had  never  befallen  their  fathers  in  the  days  when  they  wor- 
shipped Christ.  Yet  the  labours  of  some  Scottish  missionaries,  to  one  of 
whom,  the  Reverend  Mr.  Paterson,  this  work  is  under  many  obligations, 
produced  but  little  advantageous  effect  on  their  minds  ;  as,  though  it  would 
have  been  no  difficult  matter  to  have  baptized  any  given  number  in  a  day. 


HISTORY  OF  THE  COSSAKS.  675 

few  would  consent  to  unlearn  the  spirit  of  revenge  which  the  want  of  a  appen- 
regular  government  infallibly  engenders,  or  abandon  their  inveterate  habits  '— 
of  plunder  and  slave-dealing.  These  habits,  and  the  deadly  feuds  which 
arise  from  them,  make  travelling  in  their  country  dangerous  and  almost 
impossible.  When  at  Ecatherinodar,  Mr.  Thornton  and  I  applied  in  vain 
to  the  Cossak  officers  for  the  means  of  penetrating  across  the  frontier  to 
such,  at  least,  of  the  villages  as  were  on  friendly  terms  with  the  Russians, 
and  whose  warriors  were  in  the  constant  habit  of  attending  the  market 
held  daily  at  the  quarantine.  The  uniform  reply  was,  that  no  introductions 
could  be  obtained  to  tlieir  chiefs  ;  that,  even  in  a  friendly  village,  there 
would  be  many  arrows  and  musquets  levelled  against  any  one  who  came 
from  the  Cossaks,  by  such  as  had  lost  their  kindi'ed  in  wars  with  Russia, 
and  who  woidd,  therefore,  seek  for  revenge  on  the  first  European  who 
might  fall  in  their  way.  Such,  indeed,  was  the  state  of  the  frontier,  that 
our  journey  fi-om  Ecatherinodar  to  Taman,  though  in  a  time  of  profound 
peace  between  Russia  and  Turkey,  was  performed  under  a  strong  escort ; 
and  we  were  menaced  one  night  by  the  appearance  of  seventy  Circassians, 
who  had,  however,  as  we  had  afterwards  reason  to  believe,  another  object 
in  view ;  or,  at  least,  from  the  appearance  of  our  guard,  concluded  that  the 
country  was  prepared  for  them.  Every  person  whom  we  met  was  armed ; 
even  the  people  employed  in  cutting  reeds  had  their  spears  stuck  in  the 
ground  within  reach  ;  and  when,  in  one  of  the  wilder  parts  of  the  district, 
I  left  the  fort  where  our  horses  and  escort  were  changed,  to  walk  to  a 
shrubby  hill,  at  little  more  than  a  quarter  of  a  mile's  distance,  to  take  a 
sketch  of  the  opposite  range  of  Caucasus,  the  Cossaks  called  after  me  not 
to  go  without  my  sword,  as,  even  in  such  a  situation,  an  ambush  was  not 
impossible.  On  my  return  I  found  my  companion,  his  servant,  and  a  little 
knot  of  Cossaks  surrounding  the  door  of  a  miserable  hut  of  reeds,  erected 
without  the  wall  of  the  fort,  in  which,  on  some  rushes,  and  mider  the  guard 
of  a  sentinel  with  a  lance,  lay  a  Circassian  prisoner.  He  had,  that  morn- 
ing, swam  across  the  river,  from  the  party  which  had  alarmed  our  guard 
the  night  before,  and  had  requested  an  asylum  from  the  Cossaks,  who 
called  him  a  "  prince,"  and  said  he  was  a  man  of  considerable  power.  His 
figure  was  tall  and  slender,  but  muscular  and  bony,  with  a  hard  weather- 
beaten  countenance,  which  was  then,  however,  softened  to  tears.  His 
dress  resembled  that  of  the  Circassian  nobles,  as  described  by  Dr.  Clarke. 
I  asked  the  Cossaks  why  a  warrior  like  him  was  thus  in  tears.  They  re- 
peated the  question  to  him  in  Turkish,  and  received  the  following  answer, 

4  R  2 


070  HISTORY  OF  THE  COSSAKS. 

APPEN-  which,  however,  I  am  only  able  to  give  on  their  authority,  and  from  the 
,—  ^~  interpretation  of  our  servant,  who  induced  them  to  repeat  the  whole  ac- 
count at  night,  as  we  supped  with  them  on  boiled  fish,  round  a  fire  of  reeds, 
in  a  subterranean  hut  near  Tremruk. 

XLII. — He  was  in  love,  he  told  them,  with  a  handsome  girl,  the 
daughter  of  a  neighbouring  chieftain,  whose  father  asked  more  nsliiks  as 
her  price  than  he  was  able  to  pay.  Determined,  at  all  events,  to  obtain 
her,  and  having  reason  to  believe  that  she  was  not  insensible  to  his  merits, 
he  bribed  an  old  woman,  her  mother-in-law,  to  give  her  notice  of  his  inten- 
tions, and  to  be  herself  in  readiness  to  let  him  into  the  house  on  a  certain 
night,  which  was  the  one  immediately  preceding  our  interview  with  him. 
He  had  left  his  own  village  with  the  horsemen  whom  our  Cossaks  had  seen, 
soon  after  dusk,  and  reached  tlie  village  and  house  of  his  intended  wife 
without  difficulty.  The  dwelling  was  at  once  surrounded  and  broken  open  ; 
the  two  brothers  rushed  to  defend  their  sister,  and  both  died  bravely  fight- 
ing on  the  threshold  of  the  women's  apartment.  He  succeeded  in  carry- 
ing off  both  his  prize  and  the  old  woman ;  but  another  female,  and  the 
father  of  the  family,  had  broken  through  the  reed  enclosure  of  their  ha- 
bitation, and  had  given,  in  the  mean  time,  the  alarm  to  the  village.  The 
ravishcr  and  his  party  were  immediately  pursued,  and  overtaken  on  the 
banks  of  the  Cuban,  by  an  overwhelming  superiority  of  numbers.  The 
conclusion  of  the  story  is  easily  anticipated ;  his  friends  were  slain  or  dis- 
persed ;  his  horse  killed  under  him ;  his  sabre  shivered  to  pieces  in  his 
hand;  the  unhappy  cause  of  so  much  bloodshed  was  torn  from  his  em- 
brace ;  and  he  himself,  disarmed  and  bleeding,  only  escaped  death  by  crawl- 
ing into  the  stream,  and  swimming  across,  under  cover  of  the  surrounding 
darkness.  The  reason  for  his  tears  still  remains  to  be  told.  "  He  knew 
the  fortune  which  would  now  befall  the  girl ;  no  Circassian  could  pay  the 
price  which  her  parents  demanded  ;  he  should  see  her  no  more  ;  she  would 
be  sold  to  the  Turks ;  and  was  not  this  suflicient  reason  why  a  warrior  and 
a  sultan  should  weep  ?" 

XLin. — We  could  not  learn  from  our  Cossak  friends  whether  this 
sort  of  woman-stealing  was  an  ordinary  incident  in  Circassian  amours  ;  but 
they  complained  most  heavily  of  their  continual  forays  across  the  river  to 
drive  away  cattle,  and  steal  slaves,  both  male  and  female,  from  the  Cossak 
stanitza.  They  are,  indeed,  the  principal  slave-factors  on  this  coast ;  and 
it  is  in  no  small  degree  to  this  circumstance  that  the  Circassian  women 
owe  their  high  renown  for  beauty,  since,  though  many  of  them,  no  doubt. 


HISTORY  OF  THE  COSSAKS.  fi77 

most  fully  deserve  the  character,  they  have  eiiOTossed  to  their  own  nation    appen- 

DI\ 

many  of  the  praises  due  to  Cossak,  Georgian,  and  Tartar  girls,  who,  as  =^- 
they  passed  through  the  hands  of  Circassian  traders,  all  bore  the  name  of 
Circassians.  The  real  Circassians  have,  indeed,  fine  figures  and  feir  com- 
plexions, but  are  almost  universally  deficient  in  bloom,  in  which  particular 
the  Cossaks  and  Georgians  leave  them  far  behind.  Their  health  is  often 
sacrificed  to  their  admiration  of  a  small  waist,  which  is  obtained  by  a  broad 
leathern  belt  being  sewed  round  the  body  in  early  life,  and  renewed  by 
one  something  larger  when  the  growth  of  the  girl  renders  it  necessary. 
The  women  are  secluded,  though  not  so  closely  as  those  of  the  Turks  ;  but 
the  men  are  accused  of  being  excessively  jealous. 

XLIV. — Their  government  is  perfectly  feudal,  and  the  chiefs  of  vil- 
lages pay  very  httle  regard  to  the  Turkish  sultan  or  the  bashaw  of  Anapa. 
Some  of  these  chiefs,  who  are  on  good  terms  with  the  Russians,  are  called 
princes  ;  others,  who  pretend  to  be  descended  from  the  blood  royal  of  the 
Crimea,  call  themselves  sultans,  and  assume  the  family  title  of  "  Gerai." 
One  of  these  last  came  to  visit  us  during  our  stay  in  Taman,  far  better 
dressed  than  any  whom  we  had  seen  before,  and  attended  by  six  followers, 
most  gallantly  mounted  and  armed.  His  name  was  Selim,  a  very  hand- 
some young  man,  of  about  two-and-twenty  ;  his  dress  was  a  caftan  of  yel- 
low silk,  with  a  bright  coat  of  mail  under  it,  which  was  seen  at  the  wrists 
and  neck.  He  had  tight  scarlet  pantaloons  laced  with  silver,  and  yellow 
slippers  without  heels.  His  arms  wei'e  a  sabre,  a  poignard,  one  long 
Turkish  pistol  slung,  without  a  holster,  across  his  saddle's  pommel ;  a  bow 
and  quiver,  both  in  cases  of  red  and  embroidered  leather,  and  suspended 
from  his  girdle  ;  he  had  a  horn  for  powder,  and  on  his  breast  a  row  of  tin 
pipes  for  cartridges,  covered  with  red  cloth,  and  sewed  to  his  kaftan ;  his 
ancles  were  bare.  Of  his  attendants,  one  was  called  "  attaman"  by  the 
Cossaks,  as  being  himself  the  subordinate  chief  of  a  village ;  they  Avere  less 
gaily  dressed  than  their  sultan,  but  still  better  armed,  having  carbines  in- 
stead of  bows.  Some  of  these  Circassians  carry  small  lances  ;  all  who  can 
afford  it  have  coats  of  mail.  The  bow  and  quiver  are  a  mark  of  distinction, 
and  are  now  rarely  seen,  except  on  their  sultans  on  occasions  of  ceremony. 
Our  friend  Selim  was  by  no  means  expert  in  the  use  of  his.  The  foot  are 
armed,  for  the  most  part,  with  long  Turkish  guns,  which  are  used  with 
rests,  and  have  often  only  matchlocks.  The  coats  of  mail  and  fire-arms 
are  brought  from  Persia  and  Constantinople  ;  the  sabres  and  poignards  are 
of  their  own  manufacture,  and  most  beautifully  tempered,  though  by  no 


(;7R  HISTORY  OF  THE  COSSAKS. 

APPEN-  means  showy  weapons,  being  small,  and  altogether  without  ornament. 
^^^'  Their  horses  are  of  an  excellent  breed,  and,  like  all  those  of  the  Cossaks, 
Calmuks,  and  Poles,  have  the  singular  property  of  sweating  blood  when 
much  heated,  the  skin  being  full  of  small  vessels,  which  are  apt  to  burst 
continually.  I  have  seen  this  haemorrhage  so  considerable,  as  that  the 
whole  horse's  hide  was  clotted  and  stained,  without  any  ill  treatment,  or 
use  of  either  spur  or  the  shovel  stirrup  common  in  these  countries.  The 
Cossaks  regard  the  discharge  as  salutary. 

XLV. — Many  of  the  Tartar  tribes  who  have  been  expelled  from  the 
northern  bank  of  the  Cuban  by  the  Cossaks,  are  now  blended  with  the  Cir- 
cassians, and  have  considerably  corrupted  both  their  language  and  national 
countenance.  But  the  real  Circassians  disclaim  all  Tartar  blood.  They 
derive,  if  we  beheve  their  own  traditions,  their  name  of  Tcherkassi  (for  this 
is  the  word  which  we  have  changed  into  Circassian)  from  two  chieftains, 
Tcher  and  Kiss,  who  led  their  nation,  at  some  unknown  and  early  period, 
from  Egypt  to  Caucasus.  As  to  the  fact  of  Egypt  being  their  original 
country,  they  are  unanimous ;  and  my  friend,  Mr.  Pinkerton,  has  a  manu- 
script in  the  Circassian  language,  which  was  presented  to  him  by  one  of 
their  most  learned  moullahs,  in  which  the  same  pedigree  is  unequivocally 
asserted.  It  is  impossible  not  to  be  struck  with  the  coincidence  between 
this  strange  story  and  the  parallel  statement  in  Herodotus,  who  derives 
the  ancient  Colchis  from  an  Egyptian  colony  left  by  Sesostris.  In  the 
circumstances  of  similarity  which,  in  his  time,  confirmed  this  descent,  I 
know  not  that  the  Circassians  partake.  The  language  of  the  Colchians 
and  Egyptians  was  the  same ;  but  the  modern  Circassian  and  the  Coptic 
have  never  yet  been  compared,  nor  am  I  qualified  to  compare  them.  The 
woolly  or  curly  hair  and  dark  complexion  which  were  then  common  to  both, 
is  not  now  visible  in  the  former ;  and  I  have  not  been  able  to  learn  that 
there  is  any  pecuharity  in  the  Circassian  system  of  making  linen.  Circum- 
cision they  might  have  received  from  the  Mahomedans ;  so  that  no  infer- 
ence can  be  drawn  from  its  prevalence  among  them.  There  is  a  practice 
which  we  heard  ascribed  to  them  by  a  person  who,  of  all  Europeans  now 
living,  has  seen  most  of  these  mountains,  and  which  has,  doubtless,  a  re- 
markable correspondence  with  the  ancient  superstitions  of  Egypt.  They 
are  said  to  pay  religious  honours  to  the  cat ;  but  of  this  custom,  when  I 
was  myself  on  their  frontiers,  I  could  learn  nothing,  and  the  Cossaks  had 
never  heard  of  it.  On  the  whole,  it  would  be  very  hazardous  to  rest  our 
belief  of  a  fact  so  improbable  as  the  descent  of  the  Circassians  from  Egypt, 


HISTORY  OF  THE  COSSAKS.  679 

on  the  traditions  of  a  people  so  utterly  barbarous,  unless  it  were  confirmed    appen- 

DIX. 

by  some  additional  circumstances.     It  may,  indeed,  be  doubted  whether,  ' 

as  they  have  once  been  Christians,  and  more  closely  connected  with  the 
Greeks  than  they  are  at  present,  they  may  not  have  received  this  notion  of 
their  Egyptian  ancestry  from  the  latter  people,  who  had  themselves  drawn 
it  from  Herodotus,  on  whose  testimony,  therefore,  it  would  still  depend. 
Yet  whatever  may  be  our  doubts  as  to  the  Colchians  being  an  Egyptian 
colony,  this  tradition  among  the  modern  Tcherkassi  is  at  least  a  proof,  so 
far  as  it  goes,  of  what  is  in  itself  perfectly  probable,  that  they  are  them- 
selves the  descendants  of  the  ancient  Colchians,  and  the  kindred  of  CEtes 
and  Medea. 

The  Circassians  have  not,  however,  the  least  suspicion  that  any  rela- 
tionship exists  between  the  Cossaks  and  themselves,  or  that  their  ancestors 
had  any  share  in  naming  or  building  the  metropolis  of  the  Don.  Their 
only  connexion  with  each  other,  at  present,  is  in  the  way  of  war  and  barter. 
The  latter  intercourse  is  carried  on  at  different  markets,  where  adherence 
to  the  rules  of  quarantine,  though  enjoined,  is  not  rigidly  adhered  to.  The 
Cossaks  bring  salt  to  the  market ;  the  Circassians,  millet,  rye,  barley,  and 
a  little  wheat,  which  are  exchanged  in  the  proportion  of  two  measm'es  of 
grain  against  one  of  salt.  The  agriculture  of  the  Circassians  is  said  to  be 
good  ;  but  the  Cossaks  are  not  very  competent  judges.  Their  villages  are, 
like  all  in  these  countries,  irregular  collections  of  huts,  built  of  clay  and 
reeds ;  but  their  situations,  and  the  groves  and  orchards  which  surround 
them,  are  often  beautiful.  The  fine  air  of  these  mountains,  and  their  ex- 
emption from  the  curses  of  the  plain,  fiogs,  toads,  venomous  serpents, 
musquitoes,  and  typhus  fever,  were  often  spoken  of  with  rapture  by  the 
Cossaks  of  Taman,  who  seldom  described  them  without  a  concluding  wish 
that  they  had  permission  from  the  emperor  to  go  and  seize  on  those  goodly 
lands  for  themselves,  which  were  now,  they  said,  the  hiding-holes  of  savages, 
thieves,  and  murderers.  This  is,  indeed,  a  very  different  picture  from  that 
which  Collins  has  given  of  the  Circassians  whom  he  describes  ;  and  it  is  not 
impossible  that,  had  we  been  on  the  other  side  of  the  Cuban,  we  should 
have  heard  an  almost  similar  account  of  the  Cossaks.  Violence  and  blood- 
shed are,  unhappily,  the  invariable  characteristics  of  uncivihzed  man  ;  and 
those  rude  warriors  who  are  most  interesting  in  painting  or  in  poetry,  are 
often,  of  all  men,  the  worst  neighbours,  and  those  with  whom  it  is  well  to 
have  the  fewest  dealings. 


680  HISTORY  OF  THE  COSSAKS. 

APPEN-  "  Some  sterner  virtues  on  the  mountain's  breast 

^^-^'  May  sit,  like  falcons  cowering  o'er  their  nest. 

But  all  the  gentler  morals,  such  as  play 
Through  life's  more  cultured  walks,  and  charm  the  way, 
These,  far  dispers'd,  on  timorous  pinions  fly, 
To  sport  and  flutter  in  a  milder  sky." 


BOOK  III, 

I. — The  first  notice  which  is  taken  in  Russian  history  of  those  predatory 
communities  from  whom  the  Cossaks  are  descended,  is  in  the  year  1382, 
and  during  the  veigii  of  the  Russian  prince  Demetrius  the  Fourth,  when 
two  thousand  vagabonds  and  pirates,  encouraged,  as  was  supposed,  and  led 
on  by  some  dissolute  citizens  of  Novogorod,  advanced  from  their  various 
retreats  on  the  Don  and  Volga  against  the  Tartar  city  of  Casan,  which  was 
not,  as  yet,  the  seat  of  an  independant  sovereignty,  but  was  governed  by  a 
Mirza,  appointed  by  the  Khans  of  Kapshak.  Casan  is  strong  by  situation, 
and  was  at  that  time  sufficiently  fortified  by  art  to  defy  the  attacks  of  even 
a  more  regular  force  than  now  assailed  it.  The  inhabitants  were,  however, 
so  far  sui-prized  that,  instead  of  an  honourable  resistance,  they  consented 
to  ransom  their  town  as  the  only  expedient  of  saving  it,  and  the  freebooters 
departed  in  triumph.  But  they  had  now  so  far  tasted  the  sweets  of 
success  that  they  were  little  inclined  to  retire  without  further  violence,  and 
ascending  the  Volga  in  their  boats  up  to  Kostroma,  a  Russian  and 
Christian  city,  200  miles  further  north  west,  made  the  same  demand  as  at 
Casan.  The  inhabitants  sallied  from  their  intrenchment  of  turf  and  slates 
(the  usual  defence  in  those  days  of  a  Russian  fortress)  to  attack  the  party 
which  menaced  them  from  the  river  ;  but  one  half  of  the  assailants  had  left 
their  boats  further  down,  and  had  taken  post  in  a  wood  close  to  the  city. 
While  the  inhabitants  were  engaged  with  their  visible  enemies,  this  ambush 
rose  from  its  concealment,  and  Kostroma  was  taken  by  the  same  stratagem 
which  Joshua  had  employed  against  Ai.  The  conduct  of  the  conquerors 
in  every  respect  resembled  that  of  the  American  buccaneers ;  they  re- 
mained a  whole  week  in  Kostroma,  indulging  in  every  kind  of  cruelty  and 


HISTORY  OF  THE  COSSAKS.  681 

brutality,  and  having  burnt  or  destroyed  whatever  they  could  not  carry    appen- 
away,  they  again  embarked  on  the  Volga.     At  Nishni  Novogorod,  half  way  " 

between  Kostroma  and  Casan,  they  found  the  inhabitants  prepared  to 
oppose  their  return,  and  another  contest  ensued  which  ended  favourably 
for  the  robbers.  Novogorod  shared  the  same  fate  with  Kostroma,  and  was 
reduced  to  ashes.  Sarai,  or  Saratof,  a  Tartar  city  of  considerable  trade 
and  importance,  was  next  assaulted ;  and  the  merchants,  botli  Christian 
and  Mohamedan,  were  plundered  and  massacred  without  pity.  Having 
thus  rendered  themselves  obnoxious  equally  to  Russians  and  Tartars,  they 
had  the  inconceivable  boldness  to  sail  with  all  their  booty  to  Astrachan, 
which  is  now  first  mentioned  in  history  as  a  sovereignty  distinct  from  the 
empire  of  Kapshak,  and  there  to  offer  publicly  for  sale  the  slaves  and  pro- 
perty which  they  had  acquired  by  an  indiscriminate  pillage  of  the  subjects 
and  allies  of  the  Khan.  It  gives  us  no  very  lofty  idea  of  Mongulian 
heroism  to  find  that  a  sovereign,  who  had  at  least  the  nominal  command 
of  all  the  warlike  and  numerous  hordes  from  Petchora  to  the  Caspian,  was 
compelled  to  temporize  and  tremble  before  this  handful  of  barbarians  ;  and 
an  explanation  of  this  difficulty  can  only  be  found  in  the  personal  character 
of  Salsrei  who  then  sat  on  the  throne  ;  or  in  the  distracted  state  of  all 
Tartary,  which  was  at  that  time  crouching  beneath  the  suspended  arm  of 
Tamerlane.  The  Khan  received  his  piratical  visitors  with  an  outward 
show  of  good  will,  invited  them  to  a  banquet,  and  when  the  hydromel  and 
arika  had  sufficiently  circulated,  put  them  all  to  death  without  exception. 
But  though  he  thus  chastized  the  robbers,  he  is  not  recorded  to  have  re- 
stored the  prey  to  its  lawful  owners,  or  to  that  liberty  of  which  the  human 
part  of  the  cargo  had  been  unjustly  deprived.  The  gold  and  furs  went 
into  the  treasury  of  Astrachan  ;  and  the  wretched  captives  had  only  the 
consolation  of  being  rather  sold  for  the  benefit  of  a  descendant  of  Zinghis 
Khan,  than  for  that  of  the  thieves  who  had  stolen  them  '. 

II. — The  next  exploit  of  the  Cossaks  (for  by  this  name  they  already 
began  to  be  known)  was  of  a  less  shameful  character  ;  and  they  appear  as 
the  vahant  supporters  of  an  unfortunate  and  exiled  sovereign.  The 
kingdom  of  Casan,  or  Kipshak,  separated  fi-om  the  parent  state  of 
Kapshak  about  the  commencement  of  the  fifteenth  century,  had  by  its  in- 
testine divisions,  and  the  misgovernment  of  its  sovereigns,  fallen  an  easy 
prey  to  the  valour  of  the  great  prince  of  Russia,  Ivan  the  Third,  surnamed 

'  L'Evesqiie,  torn  i.  p.  242.     Des  Guignes,  torn.  iii.  p.  356. 
VOL.  I.  4  s 


682  HISTORY  OF  THE  COSSAKS. 

APPEN-   the  victorious,  the  first  who  dared  to  reject  with  scorn  the  Basma,  or  in- 

DIX. 

-  vestiture  of  the  Golden  Horde.      The  Mohamedans  of  Casan,  still,  indeed 

retained  the  shadow  of  independance,  but  their  khans  were  proclaimed 

and  displaced  at  pleasure  by  their  powerful  Christian  neighbours.     Shekh- 

Ah,  one  of  these  phantoms  of  royalty,  whom  the  great  prince  Basil  had,  in 

1517,  elevated  to  the  throne,  was  obnoxious  to  his  people  on  every  account, 

as  the  supposed  tool  of  Russia,  and  as  being  divested  of  all  those  exterior 

graces  which  attach  a  warlike  and  barbarous  nation  to  their  leader.     "  He 

had,"  say  the  Russian  historians,  "  the  covnitenance  of  an  ugly  old  woman, 

long  hanging  ears,  a  prominent  belly,  short  and  swelled  legs."     To  these 

slighter  causes  of  discontent,  more  serious  ones  were  speedily  superadded. 

The  Russian  troops  whom  Basil  had  left  in  Casan  with  their  voievode,  or 

governor,  Karpof,  were  insulted  by  the  populace  who  were  headed  by  some 

grandees,  and  Shekh  Ali,  faithful  to  his  master,  called  in  his  own  adherents 

and  retainers  to  their  aid,  and  punished  as  rebels  with  the  utmost  severity, 

all  who  had  manifested  an  anti-Russian  spirit.     Such  a  state  of  things  could 

not  endure  long.     In  1521  the  men  of  Casan  invited  secretly  Sap  Gerai, 

son  of  Mildi  Gerai,  Khan  of  the  Crimea,  to  come  and  be  their  king ;  and 

before  either  Shekh  Ah  or  Karpof  appear  to  have  suspected  their  danger,  a 

formidable  insurrection   appeared  in  the  heart  of  Casan.      A   thousand 

Russians,  nearly  the  whole  number  of  the  garrison,  and  five  thousand  of 

Shekh  All's  Tartars  were  cut  off*  in  the  first  surprize.      The   Christian 

inhabitants  of  Casan  were  indiscriminately  put  to  death ;  but  Sap  Gerai 

respected  in  the  person  of  the  voievode,  the  power  of  the  Russian  sovereign, 

and  in  Shekh  Ali,  the  blood  of  Zinghis,  and  contented  himself  with  turning 

them  out  of  his  dominions  on  foot  and  unattended.     The  wretched  Khan 

had  recourse  to  the  robbers  and  fishermen  of  the  Volga,  and  appeared,  in 

less  than  a  year,  at  the  head  of  ten  thousand  Cossaks,  who,  so  soon  as  the 

fishing  season  was  over,  from  whence  their  army  was  to  be  provisioned, 

swore  never  to  desert  him  till  he  was  again  seated  on  the  throne.     But 

their  tumultuary  army  was  able  to  accomplish  but  little  against  the  cavalry 

of  the  Baschkirs  and  the  ramparts  of  Casan.     The  greater  part  perished  by 

dysenteries  and  want ;   and  when  at  length  the  great  prince  Basil  came  to 

the   support  of  Shekh  Ah  with  a  numerous  body  of  troops,  and  a  long 

train  of  boats  laden  with  provisions,  he  seems  to  have  derived  no  assistance 

from  these  unfortunate  volunteers. 

Such  an  exertion,  however,  was  likely  to  bring  their  communities  into 
favourable  notice  with  the  Russians  ;  and  not  long  afterwards,  we  find 


I 


HISTORY  OF  THE  COSSAKS.  683 

three  several  bodies  of  Cossaks  in  possession  of  nearly  the  same  privileges    appen- 
which  their  descendants  now  enjoy.  "''^" 

III. — While  the  Cossaks  of  the  Don  and  Volga  were  thus  active 
against  the  Tartars  of  Casan,  those  of  the  Dnieper  were  equally  renowned 
for  their  victories  over  the  Crimean  Khans.  Lanskaronsky,  the  first  of 
their  attamans,  or  hetmans,  whose  name  is  known  to  history,  made  an  ex- 
cursion, in  1526,  against  the  Tartars,  with  about  twelve  hundred  volunteers, 
and  returned  loaded  with  booty,  and  delighted  with  their  newly-acquired 
confidence  in  themselves  \  In  the  following  year  they  obtained  a  still 
more  considerable  advantage  over  a  retreating  army  of  twenty  thousand 
Tartars,  whom  they  surrounded  and  cut  off  almost  to  the  last  man  -.  And 
in  1535  we  find  the  Cossaks  courted  by  both  Russians  and  Poles,  and 
assuming  the  appearance  and  tone  of  a  regular  and  independant  republic. 
In  the  west  of  Scythia  they  had  already  extended  their  settlements  beyond 
those  islands  and  marshes  which  were  their  original  retreats ;  and  occupied* 
with  their  herds  of  cattle  and.  their  fortified  villages,  the  whole  southern 
frontier  of  Russia  and  Poland,  a  fair  and  fertile  district,  which  was,  in  part, 
protected  from  the  inroads  of  the  Tartar  cavalry  by  the  winding  and  rapid 
stream  of  the  Orel,  and  which,  under  the  name  of  Ukraine,  or  "  Border," 
was  regarded  by  the  then  neighbouring  states,  Poles,  Russians,  and  Tartars, 
as  equally  exempt  from  their  protection  and  their  government.  Such  a 
situation  was  singularly  favourable  to  the  gro^\th  of  wild  and  independant 
habits ;  and  the  institutions  of  the  Cossaks  at  this  period,  and  their  manner 
of  making  war,  are  as  singular  as  any  which  are  recorded  in  ancient  or 
modern  history. 

Though  the  Ukraine  be  more  adorned  Avith  timber  than  the  south  of 
Scythia,  the  forests  are  neither  extensive  nor  numerous  ;  but  wherever  any 
coppice  or  shrabby  ground  existed,  the  Cossaks  were  careful  to  collect  such 
situations  for  their  villages,  both  as  affording  in  themselves  some  protection 
against  cavalry,  and  as  furnishing  the  materials  for  their  fortifications.  A 
strong  hedge  of  thorns  was  generally  the  outermost  fence  ;  within,  at  thirty 
yards'  distance,  was  often,  though  not  always,  a  palisado,  with  a  fossee  and 
low  rampart  of  earth.  Within  this  second  circle  were  their  habitations  ; 
the  best  of  them  of  clay  and  wicker ;  the  poorest,  square  holes  in  the 
ground,  covered  with  strong  rafters,  and  heaped  vip  above  with  grass  and 
rubbish  to  the  resemblance  of  a  large  dunghill.     A  low  and  steep  entrance, 

'  Plotho,  p.  12.  '  Des  Guignes,  torn.  iii.  p.  399. 

1 


684  HISTOEY  OF  THE  COSSAKS. 

APPEN-  more  like  that  to  a  fox's  eartli,  than  any  door  to  the  habitation  of  man, 
'  admitted  the  women  and  children.  The  men  often  preferred,  (hke  the 
savages  of  Unalascha  described  by  Cook)  the  hole  in  the  roof,  by  which 
the  smoke  ascended.  This  custom  exists  no  longer ;  but  the  "  zemlianki," 
or  "  earth  houses,"  for  so  these  bvnrows  are  called,  are  still  met  with  in 
many  parts  of  the  steppe,  and  are  no  despicable  shelter  in  a  climate  so 
severe  as  that  of  Scythia.  By  degrees,  as  their  numbers  and  sense  of 
security  increased,  they  began  to  cultivate  the  ground  in  the  neighbour- 
hood of  their  villages ;  their  villages  grew  into  respectable  towns ;  their 
entrenchments  were  furnished  with  cannon  ;  they  built  Churches  and  mo- 
nasteries ;  and  no  part  of  Malo  or  Little  Russia,  for  this  was  the  general 
name  for  the  principality  of  Kief,  was  better  peopled  or  cultivated  than  the 
border. 

IV. — It  was,  however,  in  the  islands  of  the  Dnieper,  that  they  kept  the 
seat  of  their  government,  and  the  archives  of  their  union.  Here  only  they 
were  at  home  ;  and  they  felt  that  amid  this  labyrinth  of  rocks  and  marshes, 
they  were  secure  against  all  probable  attack,  and  might  build  their  boats 
and  plan  their  expeditions  undisturbed  and  unseen.  A  certain  quantity  of 
corn  and  fish  was  annually  laid  up  in  these  retreats ;  and  as  they  were 
merely  places  of  arms,  and  garrisoned  by  the  younger  Cossaks  by  turns, 
no  woman  was  allowed  to  enter  them.  When  danger  was  apprehended, 
the  women  and  childen  were  collected  in  the  remoter  villages,  or  concealed 
in  the  woody  banks  of  the  river ;  but  the  isles  of  the  warriors,  like  the  Irish 
retreat  of  St.  Senanus,  were  not  to  be  profaned  by  a  female  foot.  This 
custom,  which  gradually  fell  into  decay  among  the  northern  Cossaks,  was 
preserved  by  the  Zaporogians  till  the  removal  of  their  republic  to  the 
Cuban ;  and  even  now  their  forts  are,  in  this  respect,  as  rigid  as  monas- 
teries. 


END  OF  VOL.  I. 


GILBERT    &    RIVINGTON,  PRINTERS, 

ST.  JOHN'S  SQUARE,  LONDON. 


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